8.422 Spring 2011

Physics 8.422 Spring 2011

Atomic and optical Physics

		Room	Tel.	e-mail
Lecturers:	Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle	26-243	253-6815	ketterle@mit.edu
Assistants:	Hirokazu Miyake	26-269	452-2501	hmiyake@mit.edu
	Thibault Peyronel	26-348	642-1208	peyronel@mit.edu
	Ibon Santiago	26-265	452-5439	ibon@mit.edu
	Edward Su	26-261	452-5183	edwardsu@mit.edu
	Shannon Wang	26-209	253-4163	sxwang@mit.edu
	Tout Wang	26-261	253-4178	tout@mit.edu
	Cheng-Hsun Wu	26-265	452-5979	wuch@mit.edu
Secretary:	Joanna Keseberg	26-237	253-6830	j_k@mit.edu

Lectures: Mondays, Wednesdays

(and some Fridays: 2/25, 3/4, 4/8, 4/2, 4/29, 5/6 in Room 2-105,

5/13 in Room 4-159)

11:00-12:30, Room 4-159

First day of classes: Wed, 2/2

Office hours: WK: Wed 2-3, or by appointment (just send an e-mail ….)

TAs: announced on problem sets, and by appointment

Homework drop off: In class, or in 26-237.

Term papers due: Wed, 5/11/2011 (last day of classes) Please email to WK

Main topics:

· Quantum states and dynamics of photons

· Photon-Atom interactions: basics and semiclassical approximations

· Photon-Atom interactions: open system dynamics, optical Bloch equations

· Applications and limits of the optical Bloch equations: dressed atoms, light force, decoherence

· Cold atoms, quantum states, and quantum dynamics: quantum algorithms and protocols, ion traps, magnetic traps, evaporative cooling, Bose-Einstein condensation

Web Site for 2009 Web Site for 8.421

Atomic Physics Wiki with Typed Lecture Notes

Class Write-Ups:

L1 Introduction (Feb. 2)

L2 QED Hamiltonian (Feb. 7)

L3 Photons and statistics (Feb. 9, 14)

L4 Non-classical light, squeezed states (Feb. 16, 22)

L5 Single photons (Feb. 22, 23)

L6 Entanglement (Feb. 25, March 4)

L7 Quantum Metrology

L8 g_2 function for light and atoms (3/9 and 3/14)

L9 Light-atom interactions: Feynman diagrams (3/14 and 3/16))

L10 van der Waals interaction (3/16, 3/28)

Phys. Today paper by L. Spruch on van der Waals and Casimir forces

Dan Kleppner write-up on van der Waals interaction

L11 Casimir interactions

References for Casimir interactions:
https://cua-admin.mit.edu/apwiki/Casimir_interaction

L12 Resonant interactions

L13 Derivation of Optical Bloch Equations

L14 Solutions of Optical Bloch Equations (4/6 and 4/8 and 4/20)

L15 Unraveling open system quantum dynamics (4/20 and 4/22)

L16 Light forces Part 1 (4/22)

L17 Light forces Part 2; Molasses, MOT and beam slowing (4/25)
L18 The dressed atom picture

L19 Light forces in the dressed atom picture (4/27, 4/29, 5/2)

L20 Magnetic trapping and evaporative cooling (5/4)

L21 Bose-Einstein condensation and the phase transition to a Mott insulator (5/6, 5/9)

L22 Cold fermions (5/9, 5/11)

L23 Ion traps, sideband cooling and quantum gates (5/13)

Homework

Assignment 1 due Tue 2/22	Solutions 1
Assignment 2 due Wed 3/2	Solutions 2
Assignment 3 due Wed 3/9	Solutions 3
Assignment 4 due Wed 3/16	Solutions 4
Assignment 5 due Wed 3/30	Solutions 5
Assignment 6 due Wed 4/6	Solutions 6
Assignment 7 due Wed 4/13	Solutions 7
Assignment 8 due Wed 4/20	Solutions 8
Assignment 9 due Wed 4/27	Solutions 9
Assignment 10 due Wed 5/4	Solutions 10