Kyle Hardman

An imaging system is presented that is capable of far-detuned non-destructive imaging of a Bose–Einstein condensate with the signal proportional to the second spatial derivative of the density. Whilst demonstrated with application to Rb85, the technique generalizes to other atomic species and is shown to be capable of a signal-to-noise of ∼25 at 1 GHz detuning with 100 in-trap images showing no observable heating or atom loss. The technique is also applied to the observation of individual… Show more

An imaging system is presented that is capable of far-detuned non-destructive imaging of a Bose–Einstein condensate with the signal proportional to the second spatial derivative of the density. Whilst demonstrated with application to Rb85, the technique generalizes to other atomic species and is shown to be capable of a signal-to-noise of ∼25 at 1 GHz detuning with 100 in-trap images showing no observable heating or atom loss. The technique is also applied to the observation of individual trajectories of stochastic dynamics inaccessible to single shot imaging. Coupled with a fast optical phase locked loop, the system is capable of dynamically switching to resonant absorption imaging during the experiment. Show less

Resonant frequency modulation imaging is used to detect free falling ultra-cold atoms. A theoretical comparison of fluorescence imaging (FI) and frequency modulation imaging (FMI) is made, indicating that for low optical depth clouds, FMI accomplished a higher signal-to-noise ratio under conditions necessary for a 200 μm spatially resolved atom interferometer. A 750 ms time-of-flight measurement reveals near atom shot-noise limited number measurements of 2×10^6 Bose-condensed Rb87 atoms. The… Show more

Resonant frequency modulation imaging is used to detect free falling ultra-cold atoms. A theoretical comparison of fluorescence imaging (FI) and frequency modulation imaging (FMI) is made, indicating that for low optical depth clouds, FMI accomplished a higher signal-to-noise ratio under conditions necessary for a 200 μm spatially resolved atom interferometer. A 750 ms time-of-flight measurement reveals near atom shot-noise limited number measurements of 2×10^6 Bose-condensed Rb87 atoms. The detection system is applied to high precision spinor BEC based atom interferometer. Show less

A Bose-Einstein condensate is used as an atomic source for a high precision sensor. A 5×10^6 atom F=1 spinor condensate of Rb87 is released into free fall for up to 750 ms and probed with a T=130 ms Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer based on Bragg transitions. The Bragg interferometer simultaneously addresses the three magnetic states |mf=1,0,−1⟩, facilitating a simultaneous measurement of the acceleration due to gravity with a 1000 run precision of Δg/g=1.45×10^−9 and the magnetic field… Show more

A Bose-Einstein condensate is used as an atomic source for a high precision sensor. A 5×10^6 atom F=1 spinor condensate of Rb87 is released into free fall for up to 750 ms and probed with a T=130 ms Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer based on Bragg transitions. The Bragg interferometer simultaneously addresses the three magnetic states |mf=1,0,−1⟩, facilitating a simultaneous measurement of the acceleration due to gravity with a 1000 run precision of Δg/g=1.45×10^−9 and the magnetic field gradient to a precision of 120 pT/m. Show less

We apply an online optimization process based on machine learning to the production of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). BEC is typically created with an exponential evaporation ramp that is optimal for ergodic dynamics with two-body s-wave interactions and no other loss rates, but likely sub-optimal for real experiments. Through repeated machine-controlled scientific experimentation and observations our ‘learner’ discovers an optimal evaporation ramp for BEC production. In contrast to previous… Show more

We apply an online optimization process based on machine learning to the production of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). BEC is typically created with an exponential evaporation ramp that is optimal for ergodic dynamics with two-body s-wave interactions and no other loss rates, but likely sub-optimal for real experiments. Through repeated machine-controlled scientific experimentation and observations our ‘learner’ discovers an optimal evaporation ramp for BEC production. In contrast to previous work, our learner uses a Gaussian process to develop a statistical model of the relationship between the parameters it controls and the quality of the BEC produced. We demonstrate that the Gaussian process machine learner is able to discover a ramp that produces high quality BECs in 10 times fewer iterations than a previously used online optimization technique. Furthermore, we show the internal model developed can be used to determine which parameters are essential in BEC creation and which are unimportant, providing insight into the optimization process of the system. Show less

We present the first realization of a solitonic atom interferometer. A Bose-Einstein condensate of 10^4 atoms of rubidium-85 is loaded into a horizontal optical waveguide. Through the use of a Feshbach resonance, the s-wave scattering length of the Rb85 atoms is tuned to a small negative value. This attractive atomic interaction then balances the inherent matter-wave dispersion, creating a bright solitonic matter wave. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is constructed by driving Bragg transitions… Show more

We present the first realization of a solitonic atom interferometer. A Bose-Einstein condensate of 10^4 atoms of rubidium-85 is loaded into a horizontal optical waveguide. Through the use of a Feshbach resonance, the s-wave scattering length of the Rb85 atoms is tuned to a small negative value. This attractive atomic interaction then balances the inherent matter-wave dispersion, creating a bright solitonic matter wave. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is constructed by driving Bragg transitions with the use of an optical lattice colinear with the waveguide. Matter-wave propagation and interferometric fringe visibility are compared across a range of s-wave scattering values including repulsive, attractive and noninteracting values. The solitonic matter wave is found to significantly increase fringe visibility even compared with a noninteracting cloud. Show less

We demonstrate phase sensitivity in a horizontally guided, acceleration-sensitive atom interferometer with a momentum separation of 80ℏk between its arms. A fringe visibility of 7% is observed. Our coherent pulse sequence accelerates the cold cloud in an optical waveguide, an inherently scalable route to large momentum separation and high sensitivity. We maintain coherence at high momentum separation due to both the transverse confinement provided by the guide and our use of optical δ-kick… Show more

We demonstrate phase sensitivity in a horizontally guided, acceleration-sensitive atom interferometer with a momentum separation of 80ℏk between its arms. A fringe visibility of 7% is observed. Our coherent pulse sequence accelerates the cold cloud in an optical waveguide, an inherently scalable route to large momentum separation and high sensitivity. We maintain coherence at high momentum separation due to both the transverse confinement provided by the guide and our use of optical δ-kick cooling on our cold-atom cloud. We also construct a horizontal interferometric gradiometer to measure the longitudinal curvature of our optical waveguide. Show less