Researchers at NIST and the University of Maryland have developed a method to “dress” neutral rubidium atoms with light, causing them to behave like charged particles. By bathing the atoms in laser light, they can manipulate the atoms’ energy levels and make them react to magnetic fields in ways similar to charged particles like electrons.
This technique could provide valuable insights into exotic forms of quantum computing, particularly topological quantum computing. In this approach, quasiparticles carrying fractional charges and magnetic flux quanta could perform powerful quantum logic operations on a two-dimensional surface.
The researchers first created a Bose-Einstein condensate of rubidium-87 atoms and then exposed them to laser light from opposite directions. This caused the atoms to react to magnetic field gradients in a way mathematically identical to charged particles in a uniform magnetic field.
In future experiments, the team plans to introduce an effective magnetic field and observe the “electrified” atoms’ cyclotron motions, with the goal of revealing new insights about the fractional quantum Hall effect and topological computing.
Keywords: topological, quasiparticles, quantum, magnetic, charged
