We report experimental observation of the energy sharing between electron and nuclei in above-threshold multiphoton dissociative ionization of ${\mathrm{H}}_2$ by strong laser fields. The absorbed photon energy is shared between the ejected electron and nuclei in a correlated fashion, resulting in multiple diagonal lines in their joint energy spectrum governed by the energy conservation of all fragment particles.

Atom loss resonances in ultracold trapped atoms have been observed at scattering lengths near atom-dimer resonances, at which Efimov trimers cross the atom-dimer threshold, and near two-dimer resonances, at which universal tetramers cross the dimer-dimer threshold. We propose a new mechanism for these loss resonances in a Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms. As the scattering length is ramped to the large final value at which the atom loss rate is measured, the time-dependent scattering length generates a small condensate of shallow dimers coherently from the atom condensate. The coexisting atom and dimer condensates can be described by a low-energy effective field theory with universal coefficients that are determined by matching exact results from few-body physics. The classical field equations for the atom and dimer condensates predict narrow enhancements in the atom loss rate near atom-dimer resonances and near two-dimer resonances due to inelastic dimer collisions.

We present a method for measuring branching fractions for the decay of $J=1/2$ atomic energy levels to lower-lying states based on time-resolved recording of the atom’s fluorescence during a series of population transfers. We apply this method to measure the branching fractions for the decay of the $4{}^{2}P_{1/2}$ state of ${}^{40}\mathrm{Ca}^{+}$ to the $4{}^{2}S_{1/2}$ and $3{}^{2}D_{3/2}$ states to be 0.935 65(7) and 0.064 35(7), respectively. The measurement scheme requires that at least one of the lower-lying states be long lived. The method is insensitive to fluctuations in laser light intensity and magnetic field and is readily applicable to various atomic species due to its simplicity. Our result distinguishes well among existing state-of-the-art theoretical models of ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{+}$.

In strong-field light-matter interactions, the strong laser field dominates the dynamics. However, recent experiments indicate that the Coulomb force can play an important role as well. In this Letter, we have studied the photoelectron momentum distributions produced from noble gases in elliptically polarized, 800 nm laser light. By performing a complete mapping of the three-dimensional electron momentum, we find that Coulomb focusing significantly narrows the lateral momentum spread. We find a surprisingly sensitive dependence of Coulomb focusing on the initial transverse momentum distribution, i.e., the momentum at the moment of birth of the photoelectron. We also observe a strong signature of the low-energy structure in the above threshold ionization spectrum.

We measure photoelectron angular distributions of noble gases in intense elliptically polarized laser fields, which indicate strong structure-dependent Coulomb asymmetry. Using a dedicated semiclassical model, we have disentangled the contribution of direct ionization and multiple forward scattering on Coulomb asymmetry in elliptical laser fields. Our theory quantifies the roles of the ionic potential and initial transverse momentum on Coulomb asymmetry, proving that the small lobes of asymmetry are induced by direct ionization and the strong asymmetry is induced by multiple forward scattering in the ionic potential. Both processes are distorted by the Coulomb force acting on the electrons after tunneling. Lowering the ionization potential, the relative contribution of direct ionization on Coulomb asymmetry substantially decreases and Coulomb focusing on multiple rescattering is more important. We do not observe evident initial longitudinal momentum spread at the tunnel exit according to our simulation.

An experimental realization of high-precision direct frequency comb spectroscopy using counterpropagating femtosecond pulses on two-photon atomic transitions is presented. The Doppler broadened background signal, hampering precision spectroscopy with ultrashort pulses, is effectively eliminated with a simple pulse shaping method. As a result, all four $5S\mathrm{\text{−}}7S$ two-photon transitions in a rubidium vapor are determined with both statistical and systematic uncertainties below ${10}^{-11}$, which is an order of magnitude better than previous experiments on these transitions.

Blackbody radiation around hot objects induces ac Stark shifts of the energy levels of nearby atoms and molecules. These shifts are roughly proportional to the fourth power of the temperature and induce a force decaying with the third power of the distance from the object. We explicitly calculate the resulting attractive blackbody optical dipole force for ground state hydrogen atoms. Surprisingly, this force can surpass the repulsive radiation pressure and actually pull the atoms against the radiation energy flow towards the surface with a force stronger than gravity. We exemplify the dominance of the “blackbody force” over gravity for hydrogen in a cloud of hot dust particles. This overlooked force appears relevant in various astrophysical scenarios, in particular, since analogous results hold for a wide class of other broadband radiation sources.

For many biological and engineered systems, a central function or design goal is to abbreviate the time required to synchronize a rhythmic process to an external forcing signal. We present a theory for deriving the input that effectively minimizes the average transient time required to entrain a phase model, which enables a practical technique for constructing fast entrainment waveforms for general nonlinear oscillators. This result is verified in numerical simulations using the Hodgkin-Huxley neuron model, and in experiments on an oscillatory electrochemical system.

Modeling and investigating the thermalization of microscopic objects with arbitrary shape from first principles is of fundamental interest and may lead to technical applications. Here, we study, over a large temperature range, the thermalization dynamics due to far-field heat radiation of an individual, deterministically produced silica fiber with a predetermined shape and a diameter smaller than the thermal wavelength. The temperature change of the subwavelength-diameter fiber is determined through a measurement of its optical path length in conjunction with an ab initio thermodynamic model of the fiber structure. Our results show excellent agreement with a theoretical model that considers heat radiation as a volumetric effect and takes the emitter shape and size relative to the emission wavelength into account.

We present a study of the energy transfer in the bulk of a turbulent flow with dilute long-chain polymer additives. Based on prior work by Tabor and de Gennes [Europhys. Lett. 2, 519 (1986); Physica (Amsterdam) 140A, 9 (1986)], we propose a theory on the energy flux into the elastic degrees of freedom of the polymer chains. This elastic energy flux, which increases as the length scale decreases, gradually reduces the energy transferred to smaller scales through turbulence cascade and hence suppresses small scale fluctuations. The balance of the elastic energy flux and the turbulence energy cascade gives an elastic length scale, which describes the effect of polymer elasticity on turbulence in the inertial range. Predictions of this new “energy flux balance theory” agree excellently with our experimental results.

Stimulated Raman backscatter is used as a remote sensor to quantify the instantaneous laser power after transfer from outer to inner cones that cross in a National Ignition Facility (NIF) gas-filled hohlraum plasma. By matching stimulated Raman backscatter between a shot reducing outer versus a shot reducing inner power we infer that about half of the incident outer-cone power is transferred to inner cones, for the specific time and wavelength configuration studied. This is the first instantaneous nondisruptive measure of power transfer in an indirect drive NIF experiment using optical measurements.

We present experimental observations of coherent spin-population oscillations in a cold thermal, Bose gas of spin-1 ${}^{23}\mathrm{Na}$ atoms. The population oscillations in a multi-spatial-mode thermal gas have the same behavior as those observed in a single-spatial-mode antiferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. We demonstrate this by showing that the two situations are described by the same dynamical equations, with a factor of 2 change in the spin-dependent interaction coefficient, which results from the change to particles with distinguishable momentum states in the thermal gas. We compare this theory to the measured spin population evolution after times up to a few hundreds of ms, finding quantitative agreement with the amplitude and period. We also measure the damping time of the oscillations as a function of magnetic field.

We use the $T$-matrix approach for studying highly polarized homogeneous Fermi gases in one dimension with repulsive or attractive contact interactions. Using this approach, we compute ground state energies and values for the contact parameter that show excellent agreement with exact and other numerical methods at zero temperature, even in the strongly interacting regime. Furthermore, we derive an exact expression for the value of the contact parameter in one dimension at zero temperature. The model is then extended and used for studying the temperature dependence of ground state energies and the contact parameter.

We study superflow decay via quantum phase slips in trapped one-dimensional (1D) quantum gases through dipole oscillations induced by sudden displacement of the trapping potential. We find the relation between the damping rate of the dipole oscillation $G$ and the phase-slip nucleation rate $\Gamma$ as $G\propto \Gamma /v$, where $v$ is the flow velocity. This relation allows us to show that damping of 1D Bose gases in optical lattices, which has been extensively studied in experiment, is due to quantum phase slips. It is also found that the damping rate versus the flow velocity obeys the scaling formula for an impurity potential even in the absence of an explicit impurity. We suggest that the damping rate at a finite temperature exhibits a universal crossover behavior upon changing the flow velocity.

Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to investigate the core structures of threading dislocations in undoped GaN films with both high and low dislocation densities, and in a comparable high dislocation density Mg-doped GaN film. All $a$-type dislocations in all samples have a $5/7$-atom core structure. In contrast, most ($a+c$)-type dislocations in undoped GaN dissociate due to local strain variations from nearby dislocations. In contrast, Mg doping prevents ($a+c$)-type dislocation dissociation. Our data indicate that Mg affects dislocation cores in GaN significantly.

Nanoprecipitates form during nucleation of multiphase equilibria in phase segregating multicomponent systems. In spite of their ubiquity, their size-dependent physical chemistry, in particular, at the boundary between phases with incompatible topologies, is still rather arcane. Here, we use extensive atomistic simulations to map out the size-temperature phase diagram of Cu nanoprecipitates in $\alpha$-Fe. The growing precipitates undergo martensitic transformations from the body-centered cubic (bcc) phase to multiply twinned $9R$ structures. At high temperatures, the transitions exhibit strong first-order character and prominent hysteresis. Upon cooling, the discontinuities become less pronounced and the transitions occur at ever smaller cluster sizes. Below 300 K, the hysteresis vanishes while the transition remains discontinuous with a finite but diminishing latent heat. This unusual size-temperature phase diagram results from the entropy generated by the soft modes of the bcc-Cu phase, which are stabilized through confinement by the $\alpha$-Fe lattice.

The nature of the itinerant-localized transition of heavy electrons is clarified for the Kondo-Heisenberg lattice at finite temperatures. The phase diagram and electronic structure are derived by means of the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo method combined with the dynamical mean-field theory. Around the itinerant-localized transition inside the antiferromagnetic phase, nearly flat bands appear on the Fermi surface with an almost vanishing quasiparticle renormalization factor. At the same time, there emerges a strong local magnetic fluctuation with a minute energy scale. Considering both antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic Heisenberg interactions, a coherent understanding is achieved on rich phase diagrams observed in ${\mathrm{CeRh}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Co}}_x{\mathrm{In}}_5$, ${\mathrm{CeRu}}_2({\mathrm{Si}}_x{\mathrm{Ge}}_{1-x}{)}_2$, ${\mathrm{UGe}}_2$, and $\mathrm{Ce}{T}_2{\mathrm{Al}}_{10}$ ($T=\mathrm{Fe}$, Ru, Os).

We have found a series of resonances associated with the bound state (polyexcitons, ${\mathrm{PE}}^N\mathrm{s}$) of $N$ excitons up to $N=6$ in the emission spectra of diamond under two-photon excitation at around 10 K. Time-resolved spectra show a stepwise formation of ${\mathrm{PE}}^N\mathrm{s}$ with smaller to larger $N$, as well as a successive decay from larger to smaller $N$. At higher excitation levels, the transformation of ${\mathrm{PE}}^N\mathrm{s}$ into a condensed phase of electron-hole droplets occurs. The binding energies of the ${\mathrm{PE}}^N\mathrm{s}$, normalized to the exciton Rydberg energy, agree well with those of silicon, suggesting the universality of the phenomena.

We report on coherent emission of the neutral exciton state in a single semiconductor self-assembled $\mathrm{InAs}/\mathrm{GaAs}$ quantum dot embedded in a one-dimensional waveguide, under resonant picosecond pulsed excitation. Direct measurements of the radiative lifetime and coherence time are performed as a function of excitation power and temperature. The characteristic damping of Rabi oscillations observed is attributed to an excitation-induced dephasing due to a resonant coupling between the emitter and the acoustic phonon bath of the matrix. Other sources responsible for the decrease of the coherence time have been evidenced, in particular an enhancement of the radiative recombination rate due to the resonant strong coupling between the dot and the one-dimensional optical mode. As a consequence, the emission couples very efficiently into the waveguide mode, leading to an additional relaxation term of the excited-state population.

We present a theory that elucidates the major momentum and spin relaxation processes for electrons, holes, and hot excitons in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides. We expand on spin flips induced by flexural phonons and show that the spin relaxation is ultrafast for electrons in free-standing membranes while being mitigated in supported membranes. This behavior due to interaction with flexural phonons is universal in two-dimensional membranes that respect mirror symmetry, and it leads to a counterintuitive inverse relation between mobility and spin relaxation.