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In order to study tunneling effetcs one needs objects that behave quantum mechanically and confining potentials with length and energy scales that make tunneling observable. Ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices (light-induced periodic potentials) satisfy both requirements and have been extensively studied in recent years. In my lectures I will review the theoretical and experimental basics of this approach, focussing particularly on Landau-Zener tunneling in the linear and nonlinear regime. Finally, I will present recent results on tunneling in strongly driven optical lattices and outline directions for future research.
Literature: - H. Lignier, C. Sias, D. Ciampini, Y. Singh, A. Zenesini, O. Morsch, and E. Arimondo, ‘Dynamical control of matter-wave tunnelling in periodic potentials’, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 220403 (2007) - C. Sias, A. Zenesini, H. Lignier, S. Wimberger, D. Ciampini, O. Morsch, and E. Arimondo, ‘Resonantly enhanced tunneling of Bose-Einstein condensates in periodic potentials’, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 120403 (2007) - O. Morsch and M. Oberthaler, ‘Dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices’, Rev. Mod. Phys. 78, 179-215 (2006) - M. Cristiani, O. Morsch, J.H. Müller, D. Ciampini, and E. Arimondo, ‘Experimental properties of Bose-Einstein condensates in one-dimensional optical lattices: Bloch oscillations, Landau-Zener tunnelling, and mean-field effects’, Phys. Rev. A 65 (2002), 063612 |
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