Optical Feshbach Resonances and Solitons in Quantum Degenerate Strontium

现代社会的许多技术奇迹都依赖于我们在微观层面上理解和控制材料特性的能力，例如调节用于制造计算机芯片的半导体的导电性。在过去的十年里，在气体原子的超冷云的创造和研究方面取得了巨大的进展，这些气体原子被激光冷却到绝对零度以上百万分之一度的温度。以这种方式制成的超冷原子具有可以任意控制其相互作用的惊人特性，这为使用它们制造设计材料或测试复杂而重要现象（如高温超导）的模型提供了可能性。目前用于控制这些相互作用的工具是应用强磁场，但磁场有缺点；快速改变大磁场或在小长度尺度上改变磁场是困难的。基利安教授在德克萨斯州休斯敦莱斯大学的研究小组将开发利用激光操纵原子-原子相互作用的新技术，这种技术更灵活，可能会为新的应用开辟道路，比如由原子而不是光制成的激光束，或者创造物质新状态的能力。这项工作还将涉及至少两名研究生和一名本科生，并将培训他们从事光学或材料方面的高科技职业。莱斯大学的超冷原子物理实验室还与休斯敦的Yes Prep高中校区建立了合作关系。Yes Prep高中是一所非常成功的针对弱势青少年的特许学校。这项合作将高中生带入实验室进行学期参观和夏令营，并向他们介绍在发现前沿的科学兴奋，希望能激励他们从事科学、技术、工程和数学方面的职业。诸如此类的基础原子物理实验正在为今天的技术奇迹奠定科学和人力资源基础。

Many technological marvels in modern society rely upon our ability tounderstand and control the properties of materials on a microscopiclevel, such as tuning the electrical conductivity in semiconductors thatare used to make computer chips. In the last decade, there have beengreat advances in the creation and study of ultracold clouds of gaseousatoms, which are cooled by lasers to temperatures around a millionth ofa degree above absolute zero. Ultracold atoms made in this way have theamazing property that their interactions can be arbitrarily controlled,which opens the possibility of using them to make designer materials ortest models of complex and important phenomena such as high temperaturesuperconductivity. The tool currently used to control these interactionsis the application of a strong magnetic field, but magnetic fields havedisadvantages; it is difficult to quickly change large magnetic fieldsor vary fields on small length scales. Prof. Killian's research group atRice University in Houston, Texas will develop new techniques formanipulating atom-atom interactions using lasers, which are much moreflexible and may open the way to new applications such as laser beamsmade of atoms instead of light, or the ability to make new states of matter.This work will also involve at least two graduate students and oneundergraduate student, and it will train them for high-technologycareers in optics or materials. The ultracold atomic physics laboratoryat Rice also has a partnership with the Houston campus of Yes Prep HighSchool, a highly successful charter school targeting disadvantagedyouth. This collaboration brings high school students into thelaboratory for term-time visits and summer camps, and introduces them tothe excitement of science at the frontiers of discovery in hopes ofinspiring them to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathcareers. Basic atomic physics experiments such as these are laying thescientific and human resources foundation today for the technologicalmarvels of tomorrow.