Vibrational mechanics in an optical lattice: controlling transport via potential renormalization

TL;DR

This paper explores how high-frequency vibrational drives can modify and control atomic transport in optical lattices by effectively renormalizing the potential landscape, demonstrated through theoretical and experimental methods.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to controlling atomic transport in optical lattices by using vibrational resonance to achieve potential renormalization, combining theory and experiments.

Findings

High-frequency drive causes potential renormalization in optical lattices.

Transport can be controlled via vibrational resonance.

Experimental verification of theoretical predictions.

Abstract

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the phenomenon of vibrational resonance in a periodic potential, using cold atoms in an optical lattice as a model system. A high-frequency (HF) drive, with frequency much larger than any characteristic frequency of the system, is applied by phase-modulating one of the lattice beams. We show that the HF drive leads to the renormalization of the potential. We used transport measurements as a probe of the potential renormalization. The very same experiments also demonstrate that transport can be controlled by the HF drive via potential renormalization.