Vortex beams of atoms and molecules

Luski, Alon; Segev, Yair; David, Rea; Bitton, Ora; Hila, Nadler,; Barnea, Ada; Gorlach, Alexey; Cheshnovsky, Ori; Kaminer, Ido; Narevicius, Edvardas

doi:10.48550/arxiv.2104.14619

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Using delocalized atoms, either as an atom vortex beam or as a non-vortex Gaussian beam with a sufficiently large transverse coherence length, is a challenging requirement. However, the very recent success in producing helium vortex beams inspires optimism [27]. Assuming that vortex beams of other atoms could be produced, either in a similar fashion or using the long-anticipated atom-light interaction [22,23], one can perform detailed calculations for various atomic processes in double-twisted regime and pinpoint specific observables most suitable for detecting the novel interference effects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Double-twisted spectroscopy with delocalized atoms

Ivanov

2021

Preprint

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Interaction of atoms with twisted light is the subject of intense experimental and theoretical investigation. In almost all studies, the atom is viewed as a localized probe of the twisted light field. However, as argued in this paper, conceptually novel effects will arise if light-atom interaction is studied in the double-twisted regime with delocalized atoms, that is, either via twisted light absorption by atom vortex beam, or via twotwisted-photon spectroscopy of atoms in a non-vortex but delocalized state. Even for monochromatic twisted photons and for an infinitely narrow line, absorption will occur over a finite range of detuning. Inside this range, a rapidly varying absorption probability is predicted, revealing interference fringes induced by two distinct paths leading to the same final state. The number, location, height and contrast of these fringes can give additional information on the excitation process which would not be accessible in usual spectroscopic settings. Visibility of the predicted effects will be enhanced at the future Gamma factory thanks to the large momenta of ions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Very recently, vortex beams of individual atoms were finally demonstrated experimentally [27] with the aid of an array of conventional fork diffraction gratings of submicron size, not via light-atom interaction. Thus, experiments probing atom vortex beams with light is still an uncharted territory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Double-twisted spectroscopy with delocalized atoms

Ivanov

2021

Preprint

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“…They are now routinely used to probe magnetic properties of matter at the atomic scale, to excite plasmons, and to test behavior of twisted electrons in external magnetic fields, see reviews [15,16]. In the past few years, neutral particles such as neutrons [17][18][19] and, very recently, atoms [20] were also put in vortex states, opening new promising venues for fundamental physics and applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decay of the vortex muon

Zhao,

Ivanov,

Zhang

2021

Preprint

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Muon decay is self-analyzing: the spectral-angular distribution of the emitted electron reveals the spin orientation of the polarized muon. Here, we show that the same feature applies to muons in non-plane-wave states and helps reveal the rich polarization opportunities available. We focus on the so-called vortex states, in which the muon carries a non-zero orbital angular momentum with respect to the average propagation direction and exhibits a cone structure in the momentum distribution. We compute the spectrum and the angular distribution of electrons emitted in decays of vortex muons and show that the most revealing observable is not the angular distribution but the fixed-angle electron spectra. Even for very small cone opening angles of the vortex muons, it will be easy to observe significant modifications of the electron spectra which would allows one to distinguish plane wave and vortex muons, as well as differentiate various polarization states. These features will be the key to tracking the evolution of vortex muons in external magnetic fields.

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“…In recent years, the achieved capability to fabricate phase masks with nanometer precision ren-dered possible to control the coherent superposition of matter waves producing typical interference patterns by spatial reshaping of a particle's wave-function [19][20][21][22][23]. Particularly interesting is the case of so-called vortex beams, which consist of a stream of particles whose wavefunction spatial profile has been modulated to become chiral and carry an orbital angular momentum.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…However, the potential of dynamically controlled vortex beams extends farther than that. We anticipate new opportunities in nuclear physics, where projectile beams, starting for instance from protons, neutrons or muons with reshaped wave fronts [23,29] would enhance and dynamically control nuclear reactions. The beam angular momentum is ideal to specifically select reaction channels according to the final-state spin.…”

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confidence: 99%

Dynamical control of nuclear isomer depletion via electron vortex beams

Wu,

Gargiulo,

Carbone

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Long-lived excited states of atomic nuclei can act as energy traps. These states, known as nuclear isomers, can store a large amount of energy over long periods of time, with a very high energy-to-mass ratio.Under natural conditions, the trapped energy is only slowly released, limited by the long isomer lifetimes.Dynamical external control of nuclear state population has proven so far very challenging, despite groundbreaking incentives for a clean and efficient energy storage solution. Here, we describe a protocol to achieve the external control of the isomeric nuclear decay by using electrons whose wavefunction has been especially designed and reshaped on demand. Recombination of these electrons into the atomic shell around the isomer can lead to the controlled release of the stored nuclear energy. On the example of 93m Mo, we show that the use of tailored electron vortex beams increases the depletion by four orders of magnitude compared to the spontaneous nuclear decay of the isomer. Furthermore, specific orbitals can sustain an enhancement of the recombination cross section for vortex electron beams by as much as six orders of magnitude, providing a handle for manipulating the capture mechanism. These findings open new prospects for controlling the interplay between atomic and nuclear degrees of freedom, with potential energy-related and high-energy radiation sources applications.

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Vortex beams of atoms and molecules

Cited by 3 publications

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Double-twisted spectroscopy with delocalized atoms

Double-twisted spectroscopy with delocalized atoms

Decay of the vortex muon

Dynamical control of nuclear isomer depletion via electron vortex beams

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