Berlin 2005 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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A: Atomphysik
A 15: Cold Atoms; Ultra-cold Atoms; and Atoms in Traps; BEC; I
A 15.3: Fachvortrag
Dienstag, 8. März 2005, 17:15–17:30, HU 3094
Magnetic contribution to the Casimir-Polder interaction between ultracold atoms and a metallic surface — •Carsten Henkel1, Brian Power1,2, and Fernando Sols2 — 1Universität Potsdam, Germany — 2Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
The van der Waals-Casimir-Polder interaction between an atom
and a solid surface is a paradigmatic result of quantum
electrodynamics. Usually, it is computed by coupling a mode
expansion for the electromagnetic field to the atomic electric
dipole moment, magnetic dipoles and higher multipoles being
neglected [1]. We show here that for the particular case of a
metallic surface, the magnetic contribution is potentially
comparable with the electric one at distances in the micron
range. The main effect is an increase of the atom-surface
interaction strength. We compare preliminary results with
recent experimental data obtained with ultracold atoms and
Bose-Einstein condensates in miniaturized surface traps [2].
In these traps, the surface interaction distorts the trapping
potential and leads to an increased trap loss. We also discuss
possible implications for quantum reflection experiments [3].
[1] J. M. Wylie and J. E. Sipe, Phys. Rev. A 30 (1984) 1185.
[2] Y. J. Lin, I. Teper, C. Chin, and V. Vuletić, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 (2004) 050404.
[3] T. A. Pasquini et al., cond-mat/0405530.