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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 16: Poster: Quantum information, micromechanical oscillators, matter wave optics, precision measurements and metrology

Q 16.59: Poster

Montag, 17. März 2014, 16:30–18:30, Spree-Palais

Simulating matter-wave interferometers with classical rays — •Mathias Schneider and Reinhold Walser — Institut für Angewandte Physik, TU Darmstadt

The development of quantum limited acceleration and rotation devices is a key research direction. In the context of ultra-cold matter-waves, whether thermal clouds or Bose-Einstein condensates, this is usually realized with interferometers [1]. The design of high precision optical devices, in particular optical interferometers, does not rely on Maxwell’s equations but only on efficient semi-classical ray tracing methods. In the same spirit, we approximate the dynamics of thermal clouds or Bose-Einstein condensates with a ray tracing formalism. We employ the effective single-particle Wigner function as a phase space representation of the atom cloud [2], which is well suited for describing partially coherent matter-waves used for interferometry. When classical transport theory is valid, the Wigner function flows along the classical phase space trajectories. However, when the ensemble interacts with a coherence creating device, like a beam splitter or double slit, one has to use an appropriate map. We discuss advantages and shortcomings of the approach above and show some results of calculations simulating an realistic experimental setup.
References:
1. Conin, Schmiedmayer, and Pritchard, Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 1051 (2009)
2. Schleich: "Quantum Optics in Phase Space", Wiley-VHC (2001)