Atom Fock state preparation by trap reduction

TL;DR

This paper investigates methods to produce precise atom number Fock states in a 1D strongly interacting gas by combining trap weakening and squeezing, enhancing fidelity over individual approaches.

Contribution

It introduces a combined trap reduction technique that improves the efficiency and robustness of Fock state preparation in strongly interacting atomic gases.

Findings

Combined trap weakening and squeezing yield higher fidelity Fock states.

Independent methods are limited by state truncation effects.

The combined approach is robust and efficient.

Abstract

We study the production of low atom number Fock states by reducing suddenly the potential trap in a 1D strongly interacting (Tonks-Girardeau) gas. The fidelity of the Fock state preparation is characterized by the average and variance of the number of trapped atoms. Two different methods are considered: making the trap shallower (atom culling [A. M. Dudarev {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 98}, 063001 (2007)], also termed ``trap weakening'' here) and making the trap narrower (trap squeezing). When used independently, the efficiency of both procedures is limited as a result of the truncation of the final state in momentum or position space with respect to the ideal atom number state. However, their combination provides a robust and efficient strategy to create ideal Fock states.