Nonadiabatic Diffraction of Matter Waves

TL;DR

This paper explores a novel nonadiabatic diffraction regime of matter waves using Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices, revealing new dynamics beyond traditional potential-based diffraction.

Contribution

It introduces a nonadiabatic diffraction regime where no potential can be defined, and demonstrates the transition to standard diffraction in the adiabatic limit.

Findings

Identification of a nonadiabatic diffraction regime in matter waves

Transition to standard Kapitza-Dirac diffraction in the adiabatic limit

Potential applications for atom interferometry and superfluid studies

Abstract

Diffraction phenomena usually can be formulated in terms of a potential that induces the redistribution of a wave's momentum. Using an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to the orbitals of a state-selective optical lattice, we investigate a hitherto unexplored nonadiabatic regime of diffraction in which no diffracting potential can be defined, and in which the adiabatic dressed states are strongly mixed. We show how, in the adiabatic limit, the observed coupling between internal and external dynamics gives way to standard Kapitza-Dirac diffraction of atomic matter waves. We demonstrate the utility of our scheme for atom interferometry and discuss prospects for studies of dissipative superfluid phenomena.