Probing cavity quantum electrodynamics with an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate: many-body theory of atom-surface interaction; high-precision characterization of quantum and thermal field fluctuations near a surface

超冷原子物质波是研究腔量子电动力学（cQED）的新工具。我们建议将众所周知的单原子cQED与描述简并原子气体和玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体（BECs）所需的多体理论合并。我们的目标是评估范德华斯-卡西米尔-波尔德型原子-表面相互作用的多体影响，灵感来自最近在表面附近捕获的BECs实验。此外，我们将评估原子干涉测量法检测范德华力的量子和热波动的潜力。这将限制基于表面附近中性原子阱的集成器件的相干时间，从而产生根本性的后果，例如，在“原子芯片”器件中实现量子信息。

Ultracold atomic matter waves are currently emerging as a novel tool to explore cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED). We propose to merge the well-known single-atom cQED with the many-body theory that is needed to describe degenerate atomic gases and Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). We aim in particular at evaluating the manybody impact on atom-surface interactions of the van der Waals-Casimir-Polder type, inspired by recent experiments with BECs trapped near a surface. In addition, we will assess the potential of atom interferometry to detect quantum and thermal fluctuations of the van der Waals force. These will limit the coherence time of integrated devices based on neutral atom traps near surfaces, with fundamental consequences, e.g., for implementing quantum information in “atom chip” devices.