Quantum Nonlinear Optics in the Few-Atom Regime of Cavity QED

该项目在一种名为腔量子电动力学的特定技术环境下开展工作，开展一项实验和理论研究计划，旨在阐明介于单个原子的深度量子力学行为和大型原子整体的经典行为之间的“介观”转变机制的基本物理。我们的发现对基础物理和纳米技术未来的工程应用都是基本感兴趣的，纳米技术经常寻求开发介观物理的独特方面。我们的方法是使用几十个原子进行新的实验，在这个环境中，我们已经描述了单个原子和数千个原子的集合的行为。我们将在基本理论模型的基础上，对实验数据和计算机模拟进行严格的量化比较。这项研究跨越了科学、工程和数学等学科的传统界限。参与该项目的研究生接受了独特的跨学科培训，我们的研究为课堂教学提供了极好的素材。基于这项研究的出版物和研究演示文稿可以接触到工程和应用数学领域的新受众，他们可能通常会研究我们正在研究的某些类型的非线性动力学行为，首次向他们介绍在介观、纳米尺度区域出现的新的量子力学方面。

Working within a specific technical setting known as cavity quantum electrodynamics, this project pursues a program of experimental and theoretical research aimed at elucidating the essential physics of the 'mesoscopic' transition regime that lies between the deeply quantum-mechanical behavior of individual atoms and the classical behavior of large ensembles of atoms. Our findings are of basic interest both for fundamental physics and for future engineering applications in nanotechnology, which often seeks to exploit unique aspects of mesoscopic physics. Our approach is to conduct new experiments using several tens of atoms in a setting in which we have previously characterized the behavior of individual atoms and of ensembles of thousands of atoms. We will pursue rigorous quantitative comparisons between experimental data and computer simulations based on fundamental theoretical models.The research crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines in science, engineering and mathematics. The graduate student working on the project receives unique interdisciplinary training and our research provides excellent source material for classroom teaching. The publications and research presentations based on this research can reach new audiences in engineering and applied mathematics who may commonly study some of the kinds of nonlinear dynamical behaviors that we are investigating, introducing them for the first time to novel quantum mechanical aspects that emerge in the mesoscopic, nanoscale regime.