Experimental Demonstration of a Synthetic Lorentz Force by Using Radiation Pressure

TL;DR

This paper experimentally demonstrates a synthetic Lorentz force in cold atomic gases using radiation pressure and the Doppler effect, offering a new method for creating synthetic magnetic fields.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to generate synthetic Lorentz forces using radiation pressure, expanding the toolkit for synthetic magnetism in cold atomic systems.

Findings

Observed center-of-mass motion consistent with a perpendicular force

Force is zero when the atomic cloud is at rest

Method is easily scalable and adaptable to various geometries

Abstract

Synthetic magnetism in cold atomic gases opened the doors to many exciting novel physical systems and phenomena. Ubiquitous are the methods used for the creation of synthetic magnetic fields. They include rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensates employing the analogy between the Coriolis and the Lorentz force, and laser-atom interactions employing the analogy between the Berry phase and the Aharonov-Bohm phase. Interestingly, radiation pressure - being one of the most common forces induced by light - has not yet been used for synthetic magnetism. We experimentally demonstrate a synthetic Lorentz force, based on the radiation pressure and the Doppler effect, by observing the centre-of-mass motion of a cold atomic cloud. The force is perpendicular to the velocity of the cold atomic cloud, and zero for the cloud at rest. Our novel concept is straightforward to implement in a large volume, for a broad range of velocities, and can be extended to different geometries.