Manipulating quantum wave packets via time-dependent absorption

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how time-dependent absorption can be used to manipulate quantum wave packets, enabling the generation of shifted, split, squeezed, and cooled atomic states for advanced quantum control and interference experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for controlling quantum wave packets using time-dependent absorption, expanding possibilities for matter wave manipulation.

Findings

Controlled manipulation of atomic wave packets achieved

Generation of shifted, split, squeezed, and cooled states demonstrated

Potential applications in interference experiments and coherent control

Abstract

A pulse of matter waves may dramatically change its shape when traversing an absorbing barrier with time-dependent transparency. Here we show that this effect can be utilized for controlled manipulation of spatially-localized quantum states. In particular, in the context of atom-optics experiments, we explicitly demonstrate how the proposed approach can be used to generate spatially shifted, split, squeezed and cooled atomic wave packets. We expect our work to be useful in devising new interference experiments with atoms and molecules and, more generally, to enable new ways of coherent control of matter waves.