Atomic Kapitza-Dirac effect with quadrupole transitions

Interactions between atoms and light fields are usually described in the electric-dipole approximation. We show that electric-quadrupole terms are important in the Kapitza-Dirac arrangement for light gratings on resonance with a quadrupole atomic transition. We derive the diffraction patterns, which...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Author Sancho, Pedro
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 05.11.2013
Subjects
Diffraction patterns
Dipoles
Quadrupole interaction
Quadrupoles
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Summary:Interactions between atoms and light fields are usually described in the electric-dipole approximation. We show that electric-quadrupole terms are important in the Kapitza-Dirac arrangement for light gratings on resonance with a quadrupole atomic transition. We derive the diffraction patterns, which in some cases are experimentally verifiable with the same techniques used with dipole transitions.
ISSN:2331-8422