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Following the familiar analogy between the optical paraxial wave equation and the Schr\"odinger equation, we derive the optimal, real-valued wave function for focusing in one and two space dimensions without the use of any phase component. We compare and contrast the focusing parameters of the optimal waves with those of other diffractive focusing approaches, such as Fresnel zones. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrate these focusing properties on optical beams using both reflective and transmissive liquid crystal devices. Our results provide an alternative direction for focusing waves where phase elements are challenging to implement, such as for X-rays, THz radiation, and electron beams.

We show the existence of Borromean bound states in a one-dimensional quantum three-body system composed of two identical bosons and a distinguishable particle. It is assumed that there is no interaction between the two bosons, while the mass-imbalanced two-body subsystems can be tuned to be either bound or unbound. Within the framework of the Faddeev equations, the three-body spectrum and the corresponding wave functions are computed numerically. In addition, we identify the parameter-space region for the two-body interaction, where the Borromean states occur, evaluate their geometric properties, and investigate their dependence on the mass ratio.

To advance precise inertial navigation, we present a compact quantum sensor which is based on novel quantum phenomenon of the angular Bloch oscillations and measures solely the angular acceleration of slow external rotation. We investigate the dynamics of ultra-cold atoms confined in a toroidal trap with a ring-lattice along the azimuth angle, realized with the superposition of two copropagating Laguerre-Gaussian beams. In the presence of external rotation of small angular acceleration, or prescribed linear chirp between the two beams, the measured angular momentum of trapped atoms displays a specific periodic behaviour in time, which we name as the angular Bloch oscillations. This discovered quantum phenomenon is shown to be a key element of fruitful applications for (i) an efficient transfer of quantized angular momentum from light field to atoms by controlling the chirp, and (ii) the direct determination of the angular acceleration of external rotation by measuring the Bloch period., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures

We have computed exactly the energy spectrum and corresponding wave functions of two bosonic particles, which are confined in a spherically symmetric shell-shaped trap and interact with each other via a three-dimensional zero-range potential. Confinement induced resonances (CIRs), originating entirely from the strong coupling of the relative and center-of-mass motions of the two particles, are identified as avoided crossings at certain values of the shell radius. By working close to the found CIRs, these results offer a new way to enhance the atom-atom interaction in the atomic gas by tuning only the geometrical parameters of the shell.

This document presents a summary of the 2023 Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop hosted by CERN. The workshop brought together experts from around the world to discuss the exciting developments in large-scale atom interferometer (AI) prototypes and their potential for detecting ultralight dark matter and gravitational waves. The primary objective of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for an international TVLBAI proto-collaboration. This collaboration aims to unite researchers from different institutions to strategize and secure funding for terrestrial large-scale AI projects. The ultimate goal is to create a roadmap detailing the design and technology choices for one or more km-scale detectors, which will be operational in the mid-2030s. The key sections of this report present the physics case and technical challenges, together with a comprehensive overview of the discussions at the workshop together with the main conclusions., Comment: Summary of the Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop held at CERN: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1208783/

Progress in understanding quantum systems has been driven by the exploration of the geometry, topology, and dimensionality of ultracold atomic systems. The NASA Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) aboard the International Space Station has enabled the study of ultracold atomic bubbles, a terrestrially-inaccessible topology. Proof-of-principle bubble experiments have been performed on CAL with an rf-dressing technique; an alternate technique (dual-species interaction-driven bubbles) has also been proposed. Both techniques can drive discovery in the next decade of fundamental physics research in microgravity., Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures

Motivated by the recent experimental realization of ultracold quantum gases in shell topology, we propose a straightforward implementation of matter-wave lensing techniques for shell-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates. This approach allows to significantly extend the observation time of the condensate shell during its free expansion and enables the study of novel quantum many-body effects on curved geometries. With both analytical and numerical methods we derive optimal parameters for realistic lensing schemes to conserve the shell shape of the condensate for times up to hundreds of milliseconds.

The study of molecular physics using ultracold gases has provided a unique probe into the fundamental properties of nature and offers new tools for quantum technologies. In this article we outline how the use of a space environment to study ultracold molecular physics opens opportunities for 1) exploring ultra-low energy regimes of molecular physics with high efficiency, 2) providing a toolbox of capabilities for fundamental physics, and 3) enabling new classes of matter-wave interferometers with applications in precision measurement for fundamental and many-body physics., Comment: 6 pages

We develop a computationally and numerically efficient method to calculate binding energies and corresponding wave functions of quantum mechanical three-body problems in low dimensions. Our approach exploits the tensor structure of the multidimensional stationary Schr\"odinger equation, being expressed as a discretized linear eigenvalue problem. In one spatial dimension, we solve the three-body problem with the help of iterative methods. Here the application of the Hamiltonian operator is represented by dense matrix-matrix products. In combination with a newly-designed preconditioner for the Jacobi-Davidson QR, our highly accurate tensor method offers a significantly faster computation of three-body energies and bound states than other existing approaches. For the two-dimensional case, we additionally make use of a hybrid distributed/shared memory parallel implementation to calculate the corresponding three-body energies. Our novel method is of high relevance for the analysis of few-body systems and their universal behavior, which is only governed by the particle masses, overall symmetries, and the spatial dimensionality. Our results have straightforward applications for ultracold atomic gases that are widespread and nowadays utilized in quantum sensors.

We provide an analytical proof of universality for bound states in one-dimensional systems of two and three particles, valid for short-range interactions with negative or vanishing integral over space. The proof is performed in the limit of weak pair-interactions and covers both binding energies and wave functions. Moreover, in this limit the results are formally shown to converge to the respective ones found in the case of the zero-range contact interaction.

We show that in order to guide waves, it is sufficient to periodically truncate their edges. The modes supported by this type of wave guide propagate freely between the slits, and the propagation pattern repeats itself. We experimentally demonstrate this general wave phenomenon for two types of waves: (i) plasmonic waves propagating on a metal-air interface that are periodically blocked by nanometric metallic walls, and (ii) surface gravity water waves whose evolution is recorded, the packet is truncated, and generated again to show repeated patterns. This guiding concept is applicable for a wide variety of waves., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We propose a straightforward implementation of the phenomenon of diffractive focusing with uniform atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. Both, analytical as well as numerical methods not only illustrate the influence of the atom-atom interaction on the focusing factor and the focus time, but also allow us to derive the optimal conditions for observing focusing of this type in the case of interacting matter waves., Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures

We study a heavy-heavy-light three-body system confined to one space dimension provided the binding energy of an excited state in the heavy-light subsystems approaches zero. The associated two-body system is characterized by (i) the structure of the weakly-bound excited heavy-light state and (ii) the presence of deeply-bound heavy-light states. The consequences of these aspects for the behavior of the three-body system are analyzed. We find strong indication for universal behavior of both three-body binding energies and wave functions for different weakly-bound excited states in the heavy-light subsystems.

We study phase contributions of wave functions that occur in the evolution of Gaussian surface gravity water wave packets with nonzero initial momenta propagating in the presence and absence of an effective external linear potential. Our approach takes advantage of the fact that in contrast to matter waves, water waves allow us to measure both their amplitudes and phases., Comment: 6 pages, 1 table, 2 figures. Accepted to EPJ-ST, not published yet

We provide an introduction into the field of atom optics and review our work on interferometry with cold atoms, and in particular with Bose-Einstein condensates. Here we emphasize applications of atom interferometry with sources of this kind. We discuss tests of the equivalence principle, a quantum tiltmeter, and a gravimeter.

Microgravity eases several constraints limiting experiments with ultracold and condensed atoms on ground. It enables extended times of flight without suspension and eliminates the gravitational sag for trapped atoms. These advantages motivated numerous initiatives to adapt and operate experimental setups on microgravity platforms. We describe the design of the payload, motivations for design choices, and capabilities of the Bose-Einstein Condensate and Cold Atom Laboratory (BECCAL), a NASA-DLR collaboration. BECCAL builds on the heritage of previous devices operated in microgravity, features rubidium and potassium, multiple options for magnetic and optical trapping, different methods for coherent manipulation, and will offer new perspectives for experiments on quantum optics, atom optics, and atom interferometry in the unique microgravity environment on board the International Space Station.

We study a heavy-heavy-light three-body system confined to one space dimension. Both binding energies and corresponding wave functions are obtained for (i) the zero-range, and (ii) two finite-range attractive heavy-light interaction potentials. In case of the zero-range potential, we apply the method of Skorniakov and Ter-Martirosian to explore the accuracy of the Born-Oppenheimer approach. For the finite-range potentials, we solve the Schr\"odinger equation numerically using a pseudospectral method. We demonstrate that when the two-body ground state energy approaches zero, the three-body bound states display a universal behavior, independent of the shape of the interaction potential., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 1 table

Quantum sensors based on matter-wave interferometry are promising candidates for high-precision gravimetry and inertial sensing in space. The favorable source for the coherent matter waves in these devices are Bose-Einstein condensates. A reliable prediction of their dynamics, which is governed by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, requires suitable analytical and numerical methods which take into account the center-of-mass motion of the condensate, its rotation and its spatial expansion by many orders of magnitude. In this chapter, we present an efficient way to study their dynamics in time-dependent rotating traps that meet this objective. Both, an approximate analytical solution for condensates in the Thomas-Fermi regime and dedicated numerical simulations on a variable adapted grid are discussed. We contrast and relate our approach to previous alternative methods and provide further results, such as analytical expressions for the one- and two-dimensional spatial density distributions and the momentum distribution in the long-time limit that are of immediate interest to experimentalists working in this field of research., Comment: 49 pages, 7 figures, preprint submitted to Advances in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Volume 66

We consider the bound states of a system consisting of a light particle and two heavy bosonic ones, which are restricted in their quantum mechanical motion to two space dimensions. A $p$-wave resonance in the heavy-light short-range potential establishes the interaction between the two heavy particles. Due to the large ratio of the atomic masses this planar three-body system is perfectly suited for the Born-Oppenheimer approximation which predicts a Coulomb energy spectrum with a Gaussian cut-off., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1407.3352

We analyze the spin dynamics of an out-of-equilibrium large spin dipolar atomic Bose gas in an optical lattice. We observe a smooth crossover from a complex oscillatory behavior to an exponential behavior throughout the Mott to superfluid transition. While both of these regimes are well described by our theoretical models, we provide data in the intermediate regime where dipolar interactions, contact interactions, and super-exchange mechanisms compete. In this strongly correlated regime, spin dynamics and transport are coupled, which challenges theoretical models for quantum magnetism., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, includes supplemental material

We show that the bound states in a three-body system display a Coulomb series with a Gaussian cut-off provided: (i) the system consists of a light particle and two heavy bosonic ones, (ii) the heavy-light short-range potential has a resonance in the $p$-wave scattering amplitude, and (iii) all three particles move in two space dimensions. For a decreasing mass ratio this quasi-Coulomb series merges into a pure Coulombic one., Comment: 5 pages; submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

We employ the Born-Oppenheimer approximation to find the effective potential in a three-body system consisting of a light particle and two heavy ones when the heavy-light short-range interaction potential has a resonance corresponding to a non-zero orbital angular momentum. In the case of an exact resonance in the p-wave scattering amplitude, the effective potential is attractive and long-range, namely it decreases as the third power of the inter-atomic distance. Moreover, we show that the range and power of the potential, as well as the number of bound states are determined by the mass ratio of the particles and the parameters of the heavy-light short-range potential., Comment: 5 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

We consider the scattering of an atom by a sequence of two near-resonant standing light waves each formed by two running waves with slightly different wave vectors. Due to opposite detunings of the two standing waves and within the rotating wave approximation, the adiabatic approximation applied to the atomic center-of-mass motion and a smooth turn-on and -off of the interaction, the dynamical phase cancels out and the final state of the atom differs from the initial one only by the sum of the two Berry phases accumulated in the two interaction regions. This phase depends on the position of the atom in a way such that the wave packet emerging from the scattering region will focus, which constitutes a novel method to observe the Berry phase without resorting to interferometric methods., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures

We propose a lens for atoms with reduced chromatic aberrations and calculate its focal length and spot size. In our scheme a two-level atom interacts with a near-resonant standing light wave formed by two running waves of slightly different wave vectors, and a far-detuned running wave propagating perpendicular to the standing wave. We show that within the Raman-Nath approximation and for an adiabatically slow atom-light interaction, the phase acquired by the atom is independent of the incident atomic velocity., Comment: 5 pages, one figure