Transcript Optically polarized atoms - University of California, Berkeley

Optically polarized atoms
Simon M. Rochester
UC Berkeley
Dmitry Budker
UC Berkeley and LBNL
Textbook to be published by Oxford University Press
Marcis Auzinsh
University of Latvia
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Goals of the course
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Learn to analyze situations like this:
Survey of interesting topics in AMO
(student presentations)
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Approximate scope of the course
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Motivation and preliminaries
Atomic states
Atoms in external electric and magnetic fields
Polarized light
Atomic transitions
Coherence in atoms
Density matrix
“Maxwell-Bloch” equations
Examples
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Preliminary I
The hierarchy of scales in the
electron world

To get into the groove and to introduce some
notations, let us write the
classical radius of the electron
2
e
re 
2
mc
…and the fine-structure constant

e
2
c
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Let’s see what happens if we divide re by powers of 

e
2
c
2
3
e2
c



re  2 
  2  a0  4 ~
mc
mc
me
me
Compton
wavelength
Bohr
radius
at
Characteristic
wavelength of
atomic radiation
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Good books (are hard to find)
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Atomic and Laser Spectroscopy by A. Corney
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Atomic Spectra and Radiative Transitions by I. I. Sobelman
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Quantum Theory of Angular Momentum by D. A. Varshalovich, A. N. Moskalev, and V. K.
Khersonskii
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Angular Momentum in Quantum Mechanics by A. R. Edmonds
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Angular Momentum by R. N. Zare
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Polarization of Light by S. Huard
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Optical Polarization of Molecules by M. Auzinsh and R. Ferber
Interference of Atomic States by E. B. Alexandrov, M. P. Chaika, and G. I. Khvostenko
The Quantum Theory of Light by R. Loudon
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The Physics of Laser-Atom Interactions by D. Suter
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Optical Pumping. Principles and Applications by W. Happer, Th. Walker, and K. Bonin –
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delayed by 9/11
Atomic Physics by C. J. Foot
Light and Matter by Y. B. Band
Light-Mater Interaction by W. T. Hill, III and C. H. Li
Atomic Physics. An Exploration through Problems and Solutions by D. Budker, D. F. Kimball,
and D. P. DeMille
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Errata
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~budker/papers/pdfs/Atomic_Physics_Errata.pdf
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