Quantum motion effects in an ultracold-atom Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Abstract

We study the effect of quantum motion in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer where ultracold, two-level atoms cross a $\pi /2$-$\pi$-$\pi /2$ configuration of separated, laser illuminated regions. Explicit and exact expressions are obtained for transmission amplitudes of monochromatic, incident atomic waves using recurrence relations which take into account all possible paths: the direct ones usually considered in the simple semiclassical treatment, but including quantum motion corrections, and the paths in which the atoms are repeatedly reflected at the fields.

11 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Atom interferometer as a selective sensor of rotation or gravity
• Ramsey interferometry with ultracold atoms
• Ramsey interferometry with a two-level Tonks-Girardeau gas
• Analysis of a Magnetically Trapped Atom Clock