A realization of a quasi-random walk for atoms in time-dependent optical potentials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a time-dependent optical potential can induce atoms to perform a quasi-random walk, combining numerical and analytical methods to analyze this novel atomic motion.

Contribution

It introduces a new model of atomic motion driven by a time-dependent optical potential, revealing quasi-random walk behavior in a cavity QED system.

Findings

Atoms exhibit non-trivial, walk-like motion between lattice sites.

The behavior is driven by beating frequencies of the optical fields.

Numerical and analytical analyses confirm the quasi-random walk dynamics.

Abstract

We consider the time dependent dynamics of an atom in a two-color pumped cavity, longitudinally through a side mirror and transversally via direct driving of the atomic dipole. The beating of the two driving frequencies leads to a time dependent effective optical potential that forces the atom into a non-trivial motion, strongly resembling a discrete random walk behavior between lattice sites. We provide both numerical and analytical analysis of such a quasi-random walk behavior.