Preface

Acknowledgement

About the Author

1 Properties of gaseous atoms and
molecules

2 Role of laser light to search
the structure of atoms and molecules

3 Physics of cold atoms

4 Physics of cold molecules

5 Applications of Cold Atoms and
Molecules

6 Conclusion

A1 Boltzmann energy distribution

A2 Angular momentum

A3 Energy state of hydrogen atoms

A4 Harmonic potential

A5 Stark and Zeman energy shift

A6 Mystery of the gravitational
interaction of the antimatter with matter

A7 Collision by the electric
dipole-dipole interaction

When cooled to temperatures near absolute zero, atoms and molecules reveal their underlying wave-like nature as the laws of classical physics are replaced by those of quantum mechanics. Research into theoretical and experimental methods for cooling atomic and molecular species to sub-millikelvin temperatures and the applications of these systems has become a multidisciplinary frontier of research encompassing atomic physics, quantum optics, condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics, and quantum information processing. Cold molecules and gases not only promise to provide highly controllable systems, which aid the investigation of some outstanding problems in conventional physics, but also to create opportunities to pursue fundamental new physics, which might previously have seemed very challenging or even impossible. Applications of ultracold molecules and gases range from quantum computers, and quantum simulators to ultra-high-precision atomic clocks and quantum metrology.

This book introduces the preparation, measurement and properties of ultra-cold atoms and molecules at a level accessible to advanced undergraduate students or for researchers approaching the subject from different specialities. Including a review of cooling techniques, the book focuses on the behaviour and applications of both ultra-cold atoms and molecules, where the measurement uncertainties of transition frequencies are reduced drastically, allowing great steps in the development of the new fields in physics and technology.

Simplified, largely quantitative explanations are given minimizing the need for complicated equations, making the work accessible to a broad range of technically literate readers. Appendices provide more detailed explanations with mathematical descriptions of some key themes. Readers of this book should develop an understanding of the techniques used to cool, trap, manipulate and perform measurements on ultra-cold atoms and molecules, as well as how such systems are in being used in a range of exciting areas of modern physics.

Masatoshi Kajita was born and raised in Nagoya, Japan. He graduated from the Department of Applied Physics at the University of Tokyo in 1981 and obtained his PhD from the same institution in 1986. After working at the Institute for Molecular Science, he joined Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) in 1989. In 2004, the CRL was renamed the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). In 2009, he was guest professor at the Provence Université, Marseille, France.