Berlin 2008 – scientific programme

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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 3: Transport: Fluctuations and Noise

TT 3.6: Invited Talk

Monday, February 25, 2008, 11:00–11:30, H 2053

Nonlinear dynamics and cooling in optomechanical systems — •Florian Marquardt — Arnold-Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Center for NanoScience, und Department für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Theresienstr. 37, 80333 München

This talk will provide an overview of ongoing developments and basic theoretical ideas concerning the manipulation of a mechanical cantilever using light-induced forces. During recent years, a series of experiments by various groups has exploited the resonant enhancement of light-induced forces in optical cavities to demonstrate both the emergence of nonlinear classical dynamics, with multiple attractors, as well as impressive progress in cooling. Ultimately, this line of research may lead to the quantum-mechanical ground state of the center-of-mass motion of objects composed of many billions of atoms. A recently developed theory of optomechanical cooling yields a quantum-limit for the reachable phonon number that can be made arbitrarily small, provided a high-finesse cavity is combined with a high-frequency cantilever. I will conclude with an outlook regarding the opportunities for quantum-coherent experiments that will open up once the ground state has been reached.

I thank J. Harris, K. Karrai, S. Girvin, A. A. Clerk, J. P. Chen, M. Ludwig, C. Neuenhahn, A. Ortlieb, C. Metzger, and I. Favero for collaboration on this topic.