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Periodic trajectories of cold atoms in a gravitational cavity

Hughes, I.G.; Darlington, T.; Hinds, E.A.

Authors

T. Darlington

E.A. Hinds



Abstract

We study the classical dynamics of an atom bouncing on a concave reflector, which is sometimes called a gravitational cavity. Experiments and simulations have previously shown that atoms released from particular heights exhibit anomalously long storage times but no explanations for this have been offered hitherto. Here we show that the stability is associated with orbits where the atom moves on a cyclic trajectory. These have a lower loss rate from the cavity because they explore only a small part of the mirror surface compared with generic trajectories in neighbouring parts of phase space. We identify and classify them.

Citation

Hughes, I., Darlington, T., & Hinds, E. (2001). Periodic trajectories of cold atoms in a gravitational cavity. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 34(14), 2869-2880. https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/34/14/308

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2001-07
Deposit Date Feb 28, 2008
Journal Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Print ISSN 0953-4075
Electronic ISSN 1361-6455
Publisher IOP Publishing
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 34
Issue 14
Pages 2869-2880
DOI https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/34/14/308
Keywords Magnetic reflector, Quantum revivals, Floppy disk, Optics, Wave, Manipulation, Billiard, Surfaces, Mirrors.