Abstract: In this talk I will describe our recent theoretical work showing how several problems in atomic superfluid rotation can be addressed using the versatile toolbox of cavity optomechanics [1]. We consider an annular Bose-Einstein condensate, which exhibits dissipationless flow and is a paradigm of rotational quantum physics, inside a cavity excited by optical fields carrying orbital angular momentum. We show that this configuration provides the first platform that can sense ring Bose-Einstein condensate rotation with minimal destruction, in situ and in real time, unlike demonstrated techniques, all of which involve fully destructive measurement. It also shows how light can actively manipulate rotating matter waves by optomechanically entangling persistent currents. Our work opens up a novel and useful direction in the sensing and manipulation of atomic superflow.
[1] P. Kumar, T. Biswas, K. Feliz, R. Kanamoto, M.-S. Chang, A. K. Jha and M. Bhattacharya, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 113601 (2021).
Bio: Mishkat Bhattacharya is an Associate Professor of physics at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. His interests lie in
theoretical quantum optics. His research has been recognized with an NSF Career award (2015) and was selected as one of the Breakthroughs
of the Year by Optics and Photonics magazine (2019).
Location: PSC 2136