Frankfurt 2006 – scientific programme

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A: Atomphysik

A 11: Ultrakalte Atomphysik III

A 11.5: Talk

Wednesday, March 15, 2006, 11:40–11:55, H6

Cavity QED Detection of Interfering Matter Waves — •Tobias Donner, Thomas Bourdel, Stephan Ritter, Anton Öttl, Michael Köhl, and Tilman Esslinger — Institute of Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

The duality between waves and particles is a fundamental concept of quantum mechanics. In a double-slit experiment with cold atoms we demonstrate the build-up of a matter wave interference pattern from single atom detection events.

The interference arises from two overlapping atom laser beams extracted from a Rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate. 36mm beneath the condensate, the atoms are detected in a high-finesse optical cavity. It works in the strong coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics and is capable to identify single atom transits. The experiment reveals simultaneously the granular and the wave nature of matter.