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# Gamma rays from the Galactic bulge and large extra dimensions

## I Introduction

Gravitation is exceedingly weaker than the electroweak interaction and, accordingly, the gravity energy scale, or Planck mass, $`M_{\mathrm{Pl}}=1.22\times 10^{19}`$ GeV, is enormously larger than the electroweak scale ($`1`$ TeV). The extreme weakness of gravity relative to other interactions is a deep concern for fundamental physics and calls for an explanation. One elegant way to solve this hierarchy problem is to invoke compactified extra dimensions only allowed to gravity and forbidden to all other forces and particles 3 ; 4 . Since gravity dilutes in an extra volume, a large number of extra dimensions or a large compactification radius, or both, could lower dramatically the value of the fundamental Planck scale without entering into contradiction with measurements of the gravity law at small scale. Thus, gravity would become strong at energy much lower than the Planck one, possibly as low as $`1`$ TeV. In this case, a rich phenomenology is expected at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energy, or in high-energy cosmic rays implying, for instance, the production of minuscule black holes with distinctive signatures 2 . This sounds fascinating, but the duty of the physicist is to confirm or disprove this theoretical construction through experiments and/or observations.

In the scenario of Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos and Dvali 3 ; 4  (herein referred as ADD) with n large extra dimensions, gravity propagates in the 4 + n dimensional bulk of space-time while gauge and matter fields are confined to a four dimensional subspace. It is assumed, for the sake of simplicity, that the n extra dimensions are compactified on a torus whose volume $`V_n`$ is expressed in terms of a common radius $`R`$ via $`V_n(2\pi R)^n`$. Kaluza Klein (KK) gravitons which propagate in the extra dimensions with momentum p, will appear in our 4–D world as particles of mass $`mc=p`$. The KK modes are discrete with a density of states $`R^n`$. The most intriguing feature of ADD extra dimensions is the possible production of KK gravitons (KKG) by nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung in the course of core collapse of massive stars 3 ; 4 ; nn . Furthermore, Hannestad and Raffelt (herein referred as HR) pointed out the existence of a swarm of long lived KKG around neutron stars (NS) 5  . In the core collapse of massive stars reaching a maximum temperature $`T`$, KKG of mass $`mT`$ are copiously produced and a significant fraction of them remains trapped around the newly born NS. They slowly decay into $`2\gamma `$ and e+ e- pairs, making NS gamma-ray sources.

HR have considered various kinds of astrophysical tests implying high-energy radiation: gamma-ray emission of nearby NS, heating of the surface of NS, extragalactic MeV gamma-ray background due to the combination of all core collapse supernovae in the universe integrated over redshift. As a result, they have set the most severe constraints of all physics on the number n and size $`R`$ of extra dimensions for small $`n`$, at least in the ADD framework, much more stringent than the limits derived by indirect signals of extra dimensions at colliders 6 ; 7  for $`n=2`$ and $`n=3`$. For $`n4`$, colliders and other constraints become stronger 8 . In the following, we strengthen considerably the limits on the radius of compactification of extra dimensions for small $`n`$, or alternatively the fundamental scale of quantum gravity in the ADD scheme, considering the gamma-ray emission of the whole population of NS sitting in the Galactic bulge (GB), instead of the closest member of this category. Following HR, we have taken a fiducial temperature $`T=30`$ MeV and density $`\rho =3\times 10^{14}\mathrm{gcm}^3`$. For $`n<4`$, the mean mass $`m`$ of core collapse induced KKG is less than 90 MeV 5 , and thus their lifetime against the $`2\gamma `$ emission is $`\tau _{2\gamma }=6\times 10^9(100\text{MeV/m})^3`$ yr, sufficiently long to neglect the disappearance of KKG by exponential decay since their production even in the oldest NS of the Galaxy.

## II Constraints from $`\gamma `$-ray emission from the Galactic Bulge

To set a limit on the high-energy gamma-ray emission from the GB, we use the observations of the diffuse gamma-ray emission from the Galaxy performed by the EGRET instrument aboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory 9 . We concentrate in particular on the latitude profile of the observed flux averaged over the $`10^{}<l<10^{}`$ longitude interval in the 100-300 MeV energy band. Although the latitude extent of such a diffuse emission is fairly accurately reproduced by a model calculation of the emission based on a dynamical balance between the cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and gravitational attraction of the interstellar matter in the Galaxy 10 , the model prediction falls off faster than the observation at $`|b|>3^{}`$. Even if such an excess flux could be attributed to an under prediction of the inverse Compton contribution at these latitudes 9 , a fraction of it could eventually due to the GB. Considering that the GB extends over a $`6.5^{}`$ radius circle around the Galactic centre, a conservative upper limit $`F_{100300}`$ of the GB gamma-ray flux in the 100–300 MeV energy band can then be estimated by summing the whole excess flux which manifests over the $`6.5^{}<b<6.5^{}`$ latitude interval. We find $`F_{100300}=8\times 10^7`$ photons cm-2 s-1. Since the KKG decay emission spectrum is such that very few photons of energy $`>300`$ MeV are produced, $`F_{>100}F_{100300}`$, and we can set to a possible KKG induced gamma-ray flux above 100 MeV from the GB an upper limit $`F_{>100}=8\times 10^7`$ photons cm-2 s-1.

We aim at comparing the collective gamma-ray emission of the population of NS gathered in the GB to such an upper limit. The GB is a compact stellar system as old as globular clusters, i.e. $`13\pm 2.5`$ Gyr 11 . The dominant stellar population of the GB is old with a broad metallicity distribution whose mean value is roughly solar 12 ; 13 ; 14 . There is an excess of certain $`\alpha `$-nuclei (as Mg) which is a clear signature of dominance of SNII 15 (core collapse supernovae which are the producers of NS). From infrared imagery, stellar dynamics and microlensing studies, the total GB stellar mass inferred is $`2\times 10^{10}M_{}`$ 16 . Motivated by gravitational microlensing studies, the knowledge of the GB has increased dramatically 17 . The stellar mass function in the GB has been determined for low mass stars ($`M<1M_{}`$) still present. Extrapolating to higher masses with a power law mass spectrum with an index $`\alpha =2`$, Gould 18  obtains a total number of NS in the GB, $`N_{NS}=10^9`$. This index value is consistent with the GB model in Ref. 19 , but differs from that adopted in Ref. 20  ($`\alpha =2.3`$) which is close to the conventional Salpeter one which applies to the disc of the Galaxy 21 . With $`\alpha =2.3`$, the total number of NS in the GB is $`N_{NS}=4.2\times 10^8`$; a steeper index is excluded since it would lead to insufficient iron abundance in GB stars. In what follows, the total number of NS in the GB is taken to be $`N_{NS}=(7\pm 3)\times 10^8`$. The integral gamma-ray flux $`F(>E_0)`$ above the energy $`E_0`$ from a single NS at distance $`d`$ depends on the number $`n`$ and size $`R`$ of the extra dimensions through the expression

$`F(>E_0)`$ $`=`$ $`8.1\times 10^{23}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1\left({\displaystyle \frac{d}{\mathrm{kpc}}}\right)^2`$
$`\times \left({\displaystyle \frac{T}{30\mathrm{MeV}}}\right)^{11/2}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\rho }{3\times 10^{14}\mathrm{gcm}^3}}\right)`$
$`\times \mathrm{\Omega }_n(RT)^nI_n(2E_0/T),`$
where $`\mathrm{\Omega }_n`$ is the surface of the n-dimensional unit sphere, and $`I_n(2E_0/T)`$ is an integral tabulated in HR. The total expected gamma-ray flux above 100 MeV from the GB is obtained taking d = 8 kpc and multiplying by the total number of NS in the GB. Compared to the above derived flux limit $`F_{>100}=8\times 10^7`$ photons cm-2 s-1, this yields new upper limits on the compactification volume $`V_n=(2\pi R)^n`$ of the compact extradimensional torus, or equivalently lower limits on the fundamental scale of the theory, or effective Planck scale $`\overline{M}_{4+n}`$, as defined by $`M_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2/(8\pi )=(2\pi R)^n\overline{M}_{4+n}^{2+n}`$ in the notation of HR.

Assuming $`N_{NS}=7\times 10^8`$ and T=30 MeV, we obtain the limits presented in Tab. 1, for $`n`$ ranging from 1 to 7. Compared to a single NS located at 0.12 kpc, with an upper limit on the gamma-ray flux above 100 MeV of $`10^7`$ photons cm-2 s-1 5 , our limit based leads to a substantial gain. The very large number of NS strongly over-compensates the increase in distance and flux limit.

The limits presented in Tab. 1 depend on the total number of neutron stars $`N_{NS}`$ and on the temperature T. To obtain the limit on R for a generic value of $`N_{NS}`$, one should divide the limit in Tab. 1 by a factor $`[N_{NS}/(7\times 10^8)]^{1/n}`$. Varying $`N_{NS}`$ in the interval $`3\times 10^8<N_{NS}<10^9`$, leads then to a variation of the limit on R of order of $``$40% for n=1, and $``$10% for n=7. For what concerns the dependence on the temperature, reducing T to 20 MeV degrades the limit on R by a factor of about 10, 3, 2, for $`n=`$ 1, 2, 3, respectively. Conversely, increasing T to 50 MeV strengthens the limits by a factor of 16, 4, 2.5.

## III Conclusions

In conclusion, we considered the production and decay of KKG around NS in the scenario of ADD extra dimensions and discussed the collective gamma-ray emission of the population of NS gathered in the GB. Comparing such emission to the upper limit set by EGRET observations of the Galaxy in the $`100`$ MeV$`<`$E$`<300`$ MeV range, we were able to constrain the compactification radius $`R`$ and the fundamental energy scale $`\overline{M}_{4+n}`$. We emphasize that for n = 1, the compactification radius is $`<4\times 10^4`$ m, overlapping with the distance ($`180\mu `$m) at which Newtons law is directly measured 22 . In addition, for $`n=1`$ and $`n=2`$, the effective Planck scale $`\overline{M}_{4+n}`$ is far beyond the collider technology. From $`n4`$, we recall that the collider and cosmic-ray constraints are more stringent than the astrophysical ones. But for $`n<4`$, the improvement is spectacular as far as gamma rays are concerned. It should be noted that comparing the observed luminosity of PSR J0953+0755 5  with the one predicted from decaying KK modes leads to a somewhat more stringent constraint than the ones discussed here. However, our new constraints are more reliable since (1) the heating of NS, and even the notion of surface temperature is unclear 23  (2) our new constraints rely on the large statistical weight of a huge collections of objects rather than on just one object. These results imply that if $`n4`$ and if strong gravity is around a TeV, the compactification topology is to be more complex than that of a torus. Since really the volume of the extra dimensions is constrained, the limits are independent of the relative sizes of different dimensions, except if one or more compactification radii $`R_i`$ are so small that they cannot be excited at the astrophysical 100 MeV scale, $`R_i^1100`$MeV 24 . In the latter case, however, the problem effectively becomes lower-dimensional where we have seen that the constraints are even stronger. As a curiosity we note that barring these caveats, unification around a TeV requires $`n5`$, close to the values $`n=6,7`$ motivated by string theory.

A similar work need to be done in the warped extra dimension model 25 .

### Acknowledgements.

We thank Elisabeth Vangioni-Flam, Keith Olive, and Giovanni Bignami for illuminating discussions on Galactic evolution, high-energy physics and astrophysics.


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# Properties of three gas-rich dwarfs in the Centaurus A group

## 1. Introduction

The dwarf galaxies in the Local Group (LG) present a wide range of star formation histories, gas fractions and metallicities and are usually divided in two main classes. On the one hand gas-deficient, low mass and luminosity dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies, generally found within 300 kpc of the more massive group members. On the other, gas-rich dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies have a larger range in both mass and luminosity and a less clustered distribution. The richness in gas of a galaxy is defined by the ratio between its Hi mass and B luminosity, expressed in solar units ($`M_{HI}/L_B`$). Late-type dIrr in the LG have $`M_{HI}/L_B<1`$. However galaxies with $`M_{HI}/L_B>1`$ can be found in nearby groups, indicating that a large amount of their gas content has not yet been processed into stars (Côté et al. 1997; Banks et al. 1999; Karachentsev, Karachentseva, & Huchtmeier 2001). Are they recently formed objects? Or rather systems where star formation (SF) is not efficient? If so, what inhibits SF in these environments? To investigate these issues we have selected three gas-rich dwarfs found in two blind 21-cm surveys, the Hi Parkes All-Sky Survey (HIPASS)in the Centaurus A group (Banks et al. 1999) and HIDEEP (Minchin et al. 2003). They have faint luminosities ($`M_B11`$) and low surface brightness ($`\mu _B>24`$ mag arcsec-2) typical of LG dSphs but with $`M_{HI}/L_B`$ higher than the average value for LG dIrrs (see Table 1). Thus, despite their substantial amount of gas, that would make them favoured hosts for starbursts, their star formation rates (SFRs) tend to be low ($`<10^3M_{}yr^1`$). Being in one of our closest groups, their stellar population can be resolved with the use of the Hubble Space Telescope. We present such WFPC2 follow-ups and high resolution 21-cm maps taken with the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA).

## 2. Observations

The objects were followed-up with ATCA in two different runs in 2001, using the 750-D and 1.5 km array configurations. The total integration time per source in each configuration was 12 hours. In June 2001 the three dwarfs were observed with the WFPC2 in two filters (F555W and F814W) for 5000 s and 5200 s respectively. Details about the observations and data reduction can be found elsewhere (Pritzl et al. 2003, Grossi et al. 2003 in prep.).

## 3. Results and discussion

### 3.1. Constraining the age of the old stellar population

The dwarfs show a well developed red giant branch (RGB) which indicates that the dominant stellar population consists of intermediate-old age stars. Stars with a wide range of ages overlay in this area of the diagram making it very difficult to derive the star formation history from only this feature. Thus, to constrain the ages of these galaxies we can only use the AGB stars, indicators of the intermediate-to-old age stellar population (less than 10 Gyr). There is evidence of stars that lie above the tip of the RGB (at 1.0 $`<VI<`$ 1.3) in HIPASS J1337-39 (Fig. 1). The lack of stars in the field with that range of colors and magnitudes suggests that these are AGB stars in J1337-39. Theoretical isochrones from the Padua group (Girardi et al. 2002, Bertelli et al. 1994) can match the position of these stars assuming an age of $``$ 6 Gyr and a metallicity of Z= 0.0004 (1/50 solar). A few AGB candidates can also be identified in HIDEEP J1337-33 although less numerous than in J1337-39. Again comparison with stellar tracks gives an age of $`6`$ Gyr for a metallicity Z = 0.001 (1/20 solar). HIPASS J1321-31 does not seem to show evident AGB stars. However its color magnitude diagram (CMD) presents a peculiar bright ‘red plume’ extending up to I $``$ 22.6. We have ruled out the possibility of this being the RGB of the galaxy (Pritzl et al. 2003) and we believe that it is more likely related to recent ($`<`$ 1 Gyr) SF activity in this galaxy. We briefly discuss our interpretation in the next section.

### 3.2. The more recent SF activity and the gas distribution

HIPASS J1337-39 is the only galaxy which is currently forming stars as one Hii regions can be found in the southern part of the galaxy. The region correlates with the peak in the Hi column density ($`N_{H\mathrm{i}}=2\times 10^{21}`$ cm-2), the highest among the three dwarfs. The well developed blue plume at ($`VI`$) $`<0.2`$, indicates a population of core-helium burning stars with an age of 60-100 Myr (Fig. 1). The small number of blue stars (at -0.2 $`<VI<`$ 0.5) in HIDEEP J1337-33 and the absence of evident Hii regions indicates a drop in the star formation activity at around 60 Myr (Fig. 1). The neutral gas density in the optical extension of the galaxy is almost constant, hovering around $`N_{H\mathrm{i}}=2\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2. There is no evidence of very recent SF in HIPASS J1321-31 either. However the thin red plume in its CMD indicates a peculiar star formation history (SFH). We have proposed that it consists of core-helium burning stars in the red super giant (RSG) phase (Pritzl et al. 2003). This scenario would imply that the galaxy went through a period of enhanced star formation activity less than 1 Gyr ago. The more massive stars would have already vacated the blue spike while the RSG branch would presently be inhabited by $`<3M_{}`$ stars, possibly 500 Myr old assuming a metallicity of 1/50 solar (Fig. 1). To explain the presence of the faint blue stars, the SF activity must have continued after the burst at a decreasing rate, and dropped off around 100 Myr ago. The Hi distribution (Fig. 1) is offset from the optical center with an overall low gas column density whose peaks (at $`N_{H\mathrm{i}}=2.5\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2) do not seem to be related to the main optical counterpart.

## 4. Conclusions

We can rule out the possibility that the HIPASS dwarfs in Cen A are recently formed objects as indicated by the presence of a population of RGB and AGB stars. However the issue of their low star formation rates is still open. The overall low gas column density, apart from sporadic local enhancements, may be one possible explanation, although we can not exclude connections with the local environment. M83 is the closest massive galaxies to the dwarfs, but only HIDEEP J1337-33 is within 300 kpc from it (see Table 1). On the one hand the lack of interactions may prevent massive SF from occuring in the more isolated dwarfs like J1337-39 or J1321-31. On the other, gas-stripping may be responsible for the current quiescence of J1337-33, a possible satellite of M83.

## References

Banks, G.D., Disney, M.J., Knezek, P.M., Jerjen, H. et al. 1999, ApJ, 524, 612

Bertelli, G., Bressan, A., Chiosi, C., Fagotto, F., Nasi, E. 1994, A&AS, 106, 275

Côté, S., Freeman, K.C., Carignan, C., Quinn P.J. 1997, AJ, 114, 1313

Girardi, L., Bertelli, G., Bressan, A., Chiosi, C. et al. 2002, A&A, 391, 195

Karachentsev, I.D., Karachentseva, V.E., & Huchtmeier, W.K. 2001, A&A,366,428

Minchin, R.F., Disney, M.J., Boyce, P.J. et al. 2003, MNRAS, accepted

Pritzl, B.J, Knezek. P.M., Gallagher J.S., Grossi, M. et al. 2003, ApJL, accepted


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# A broadband Ytterbium-doped tunable fiber laser for ³He optical pumping at 1083 nm

## 1 Introduction

Laser-polarized $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ is used in a variety of research fields, ranging from low-temperature to nuclear physics Leduc90 ; Becker98 ; Rohe99 . It has emerged in the past decade as a very promising tool for applications like the preparation of spin filters for cold neutrons Becker98 ; Jones00 , or magnetic resonance imaging of air spaces in human lungs Tastevin00 ; Chupp01 ; Kauczor01 . This has strongly increased the demand for production of large amounts of gas with very high nuclear polarizations and high production rates. The most efficient method to meet both requirements is metastability exchange optical pumping (MEOP). It relies on optical pumping (OP) of the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ metastable state of helium with 1083 nm resonant light Colegrove63 ; Nacher85 . Large nuclear polarizations can be prepared in a low-pressure gas at room temperature within a few seconds Nacher85 ; Leduc00 . Polarization-preserving compression is performed after OP to obtain dense gas, with a choice of possible schemes depending on the targeted application Becker94 ; Nacher99 ; Gentile00 . Home-built 1083 nm light sources Leduc90 ; Aminoff89  are now replaced by commercial lasers Leduc00 ; Stoltz96 ; Chernikov97 ; Mueller01 . Their development may lead to improved performances and open the way to a wider dissemination of this laser-based polarization technique.

For massive production of highly polarized $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ gas powerful amplifiers have been built, a progress due to the rapid development of fiber-based technology for telecommunications. They are operated in a conventional master oscillator power fiber amplifier configuration (MOPFA), with a seed laser providing the desired 1083 nm radiation (a DBR laser diode Chernikov97 ; Mueller01  or a fiber laser Leduc00 ). OP rates are crucially determined by the number of atomic transitions induced per unit time, which depends both on the available power intensity and on the spectral characteristics of the laser emission. The laser cavity must hence be carefully optimized to efficiently match the spectral power distribution profile to the Doppler broadened atomic line.

The main objective of this article is to describe all-fiber 1083 nm laser oscillators specially designed for helium OP. To finely characterize their spectral characteristics and assess their performances a series of tests and measurements is performed. Absolute OP performances are actually difficult to determine because experimental results strongly depend on the choice of operating conditions. The second objective of this article is to present in detail the basic tests performed in order to provide reference tools that can be used to quantitatively characterize and appropriately compare all 1083 nm sources available for helium OP. Section 2 briefly compiles the relevant features of the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$-$`2^3\mathrm{P}`$ transition and describes the currently used OP schemes to specify the main laser requirements. Section 3 describes the architecture of the fiber oscillators and the performed optical measurements. Section 4 focuses on the measurements of the atomic response to the laser spectral characteristics that provide a guide to optimal design of fiber lasers tailored to OP applications.

## 2 Metastability exchange optical pumping and laser requirements

MEOP is a polarization technique involving only helium atoms, based on an indirect spin orientation process Colegrove63 ; Nacher85 . Due to hyperfine coupling in the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ state, OP on the electronic $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$-$`2^3\mathrm{P}`$ transition induces partial orientation of the nuclei of the metastable atoms. Metastability exchange occurs during collisions in which an incoming metastable atom transfers its electronic excitation energy to an incoming ground state atom, leaving the outgoing ground state atom with the partially polarized nucleus.

The structure of the low lying energy states of helium and of the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$-$`2^3\mathrm{P}`$ transition at null magnetic field is indicated in Fig. 1.

More details and numbers can be found in Courtade02  and references therein. The atomic resonance lines are distributed over nearly 70 GHz, with line widths originating from various processes. The radiative decay rate of the $`2^3\mathrm{P}`$ state is 1.02$`\times `$107 $`\mathrm{s}^1`$. Atomic collisions introduce a pressure-dependent contribution (108 $`\mathrm{s}^1`$/mbar). For gas confined in an OP cell, the atomic lines are strongly Doppler broadened at room temperature. The Doppler full width half maximum (FWHM) $`D`$ is on the order of 2 GHz for the helium atom (at 300 K $`D`$=1.98 GHz FWHM for $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$, 1.72 GHz FWHM for $`{}_{}{}^{4}\mathrm{He}`$).

MEOP is usually performed at low helium gas pressure (around 1 mbar) with a low applied magnetic field (up to a few mT). For OP of pure $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ one advantageously uses one of the two resolved components, C8 or C9 (respectively the $`2^3\mathrm{S},`$ $`F`$=1/2 - $`2^3\mathrm{P}_0`$ and $`2^3\mathrm{S},`$ $`F`$=3/2 - $`2^3\mathrm{P}_0`$ transitions) Nacher85 . Isotopic mixtures may be efficiently pumped using the D0 line ($`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ \- $`2^3\mathrm{P}_0`$ transition of $`{}_{}{}^{4}\mathrm{He}`$) Stoltz96 , significantly shifted from the $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ lines. To reach these three resonance lines the infrared pumping laser must be tunable over 40 GHz. The low applied magnetic field is required only to prevent fast magnetic relaxation and it has a negligible effect on the structure of the atomic states. In particular all Zeeman energy splittings are much smaller than the Doppler width and the pumping light must be circularly polarized to selectively depopulate adequate sublevels and deposit angular momentum into the gas. As nuclear polarization builds up the light absorption strongly decreases due to the depletion of the population in the pumped atomic sublevels. Simultaneously the absorption probability increases for light with the opposite circular polarization, so that any residual fraction of the pumping beam with that wrong circular polarization will very efficiently contribute to reduce the ultimate nuclear orientation Nacher85 ; Leduc00 . In practice the beam polarization (and hence the optical quality of all elements along the light path including the OP cell windows) becomes especially crucial at high laser intensities. A set of high-quality polarizing cube and low order quaterwave plate is usually inserted in front of the OP cell to get pure circular polarization. Therefore the laser light must have a linear polarization whose long term stability directly determines that of the effective pumping power.

Operation at high magnetic field has recently been shown to yield improved OP performances at higher gas pressure Courtade00 ; Nacher02 . The structure of the energy levels is strongly modified, and the various Zeeman sublevels are no longer degenerate. This advantageously removes the stringent constraint on the degree of light polarization for the pumping beam. However, it also substantially extends the required tunability range for the laser source, to nearly 150 GHz at 1.5 T, for instance Courtade02 .

Extensive studies of the MEOP process have been performed in sealed glass cells over the past 40 years. In order to populate the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ metastable state, a plasma discharge is sustained in the helium gas. In short, the steady state density of $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ atoms (hence the OP light absorption and angular momentum deposition rates in the gas) increases with the plasma intensity. Yet various operating conditions (gas purity, pressure, and cell dimensions) may set limits to the actual $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ lifetime and density. The discharge also introduces substantial nuclear relaxation due to collisions in the highly excited states, emission of circularly polarized fluorescence light by the plasma Pinard74 , or formation of metastable He2 molecules at high pressures (a process enhanced at high laser powers due to massive promotion of He atoms to the $`2^3\mathrm{P}`$ state, where the cross section to produce these He2 molecules is 100 times larger than in the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ state Emmert88 ). The most favorable plasma conditions leading to highest polarizations but slow pumping rates, are usually found for weak discharges in a very pure He gas at low pressure for transverse cell dimensions on the order of a few centimeters. Indeed, the actual optimal plasma and pressure also depend on OP cell shape and size (e.g., due to radiation trapping), as well as on OP laser power and spectral characteristics Leduc00 .

The optimal operating conditions have recently been revisited due to the development of applications where large quantities of highly polarized $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ gas are needed. Most current schemes are based on gas flow through one or several OP cells, where it gets optically pumped at low pressure and mT magnetic field, and accumulation of compressed polarized gas in appropriate storage vessels Becker94 ; Nacher99 ; Gentile01 . Cell dimensions, materials, and gas flow rates are optimized to achieve the best efficiency with the available laser source, which usually results from a tradeoff between high nuclear polarizations and fast production rates. In addition, actual OP conditions may not be ideal (gas purity, for instance, is never as high as in carefully prepared sealed cells). Taking into account the finite transit time of the atoms in the OP cell, pressure, atomic transition line and discharge intensity are also often selected to shorten the OP time. In all cases, the latter decreases at high photon fluxes, leading to improved performance when powerful lasers are available. The need for very high laser output powers is further increased by the rapid development of polarized $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ applications, which requires either upscaling the existing gas polarizers or significantly improving the overall production rates in order to meet the growing demand for polarized gas.

MEOP is a very efficient and fast process. It typically yields 2 polarized nuclei per absorbed photon at 1083 nm, but this efficiency is reduced at high nuclear polarizations Leduc00 . Therefore, a strong increase in laser power is required to slightly improve the steady state nuclear polarization close to the limit set by the intrinsic non linear effects in OP Nacher85 .

To remain efficient at high laser powers and minimize line saturation effects, OP must involve the largest possible number of $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ atoms, i.e., optimally interact simultaneously with all velocity classes. A singlemode laser is absorbed by atoms from a single velocity class, whose pressure-broadened line width $`\delta `$ determines the fraction of $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ atoms actually in resonance with the laser: $`X_\mathrm{s}`$=$`\delta `$/$`D`$ (typically 1 % at 1 mbar for pure $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ gas at room temperature). The per-atom photon absorption probability (proportional to the power density, i.e., the light intensity per unit area) is equal to the spontaneous emission rate for a critical laser power density $`𝒫_{crit.}=2\omega ^3\mathrm{}DX_\mathrm{s}/3\sqrt{\pi }c^2T_{ij}`$$`0.277X_\mathrm{s}/T_{ij}`$ (W/cm2), where $`\omega `$ is 2$`\pi `$ times the resonance frequency and $`\mathrm{}`$ $`1/2\pi `$ times the Planck constant, $`c`$ the velocity of light, and $`T_{ij}`$ the transition matrix element between the relevant atomic sublevels $`i`$ and $`j`$ Nacher85 . It is on the order of 10 mW/cm2 for a circularly polarized singlemode laser ($`X_\mathrm{s}`$=1 %) tuned to the C8 line ($`T_{ij}`$ = 0.29) and 1 W/cm2 for a broadband laser emitting over the entire Doppler line width ($`X_\mathrm{s}`$=1). A more quantitative description of the impact of optical saturation on the OP dynamics can be derived from a realistic and detailed model of the OP process and from computer calculations taking into account the spectral and geometric features of the laser beam Leduc00 . A single phenomenological parameter ($`X_\mathrm{s}`$) is used to specify the spectral coverage between the laser and Doppler profiles. This parameter is mainly determined by the laser line width and mode structure. Collisional redistribution between velocity classes also plays a role Courtade02 , but it is only crudely taken into account for the numerical simulations Leduc00 . Attempts to accurately reproduce saturation profiles measured for narrowband laser sources bring to light the need to improve such input parameters, and maybe also to include other effects like radiative broadening of resonance lines (at high laser powers) CourtadeTh . For a highly multimode laser, an optimal spectral coverage is expected to exist: on the one hand the number of atoms significantly excited by resonant light within the Doppler profile increases with the laser line width; on the other hand the laser efficiency decreases for an excessively broad emission spectrum, due to reduced absorption rates in the wings of the Doppler atomic line. Assuming for instance a continuous Gaussian laser frequency distribution of width $`L`$, the fraction of atoms submitted to more than half of the incident power varies as $`erf(\sqrt{Ln(2)}L/D)`$; it starts growing almost linearly with $`L/D`$ then rises more slowly, exceeding 90% for $`L/D>1.4`$. In contrast the ratio of the total absorbed laser power to the incident one scales like $`1/\sqrt{1+L^2/D^2}`$; it becomes for instance less than 50% for $`L/D>`$ $`1.7`$. Therefore, the optimal coverage may be qualitatively inferred to lie around $`LD`$.

In summary, the OP rates basically depend on the number of atomic transitions induced per unit time, i.e., the light absorption rate, which in turn depends on the available power intensity but also on the spectral characteristics of the laser emission. Nevertheless, a large number of operating conditions (pressure, cell dimensions, discharge intensity, gas purity, gas flow rate, etc.) play a role in the OP process, simultaneously and in an intricate way. It is thus very difficult to assess the efficiency of a particular laser source in terms of absolute OP performances. One way out may be the comparison of different types of laser sources under the same conditions Gentile02 . But the variety of experimental parameters that need to be controlled and the difficulty encountered in obtaining identical beam divergences and intensity profiles for lasers require considerable effort. The choice of operating conditions may also be critical, either to emphasize the relevant differences between the lasers or to test the sources in a configuration suited for a particular application. A different approach is presented in this article, which focuses on the laser spectral characteristics relevant for MEOP of $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$. The selected protocols provide conclusive results that hardly depend on the experimental conditions. Detailed information on the fiber laser line width and mode structure is obtained from purely optical measurements. Further characterization with very basic equipment is provided by tests of the atomic response on the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$-$`2^3\mathrm{P}`$ transition at null nuclear polarization, which do not involve the intricate OP process.

## 3 Architecture and operation of the fiber lasers

### 3.1 Tunable 1083 nm fiber lasers

Different laser sources have been used to optically pump $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ gas: DBR semiconductor lasers Stoltz96 ; Major93 , arc lamp pumped Nd:LNA lasers Daniels87 . Good results have been obtained with home-built multimode LNA lasers Leduc90 ; Aminoff89 ; Gentile93 . Wide dissemination and use outside the laboratory environment has, however, been hindered due to inherent drawbacks and difficulties: modest provision and commercial availability of high-quality crystal rods, limited output power (5-8 W, due to severe thermal lensing effects inducing frequent rod breaking), low wall-plug efficiency, and need for routine cleaning and re-alignment of the open-air laser cavity optics. The emergence of fiber technology has allowed the development of powerful light amplifiers (delivering tens of watts) and novel laser sources in the near infrared region. Fiber lasers involving an external cavity in Littrow configuration have recently been demonstrated to provide good efficiency and wide tunability range Auerbach01 . However, as explained in the previous section, narrowband emission sources are not well suited for OP purposes.

Powerful broadband all-fiber lasers are therefore developed for OP of $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$. They are based on the convenient MOPFA configuration. The master oscillator is a low power fiber laser designed for tunable, multimode emission at 1083 nm with a spectral range on the order of 1-2 GHz. A large output power is provided by a power booster, which can be separately optimized for maximal output efficiency. With adequate optical isolation between the two parts and operation of the power amplifier in the saturated regime, the spectral characteristics of the whole set-up are those of the master oscillator. Both the master oscillator (characterized in this work) and the power amplifier (described in detail in BordaisTh ; Bordais03 ) take advantage of the high gain provided by ytterbium-doped double clad fibers (DCFs) pumped by broad-stripe laser diodes.

A comprehensive introduction to the capabilities of Yb-doped fiber lasers can be found, for instance, in Pask95 . The Yb3+ ion advantageously exhibits large absorption cross sections in the 915-925 nm range and a more important one around 975 nm, where low-cost powerful laser diodes are commercially available for pumping. In a Ge co-doped silica matrix, transitions between sublevels of the ground $`{}_{}{}^{2}\mathrm{F}_{7/2}^{}`$ and excited $`{}_{}{}^{2}\mathrm{F}_{5/2}^{}`$ states result in two main emission lines: a narrow intense one at 975 nm and a broad one extending between 1 and 1.2 $`\mu `$m. DCFs are preferred for high power operation, the large inner cladding allowing propagation of the multimode pump beam around the doped active core and multiple crossing across it. Continuous wave (CW) operation with output powers exceeding 110 W has been demonstrated using DCF Dominic99 .

### 3.2 The fiber oscillators

The architecture of the fiber laser oscillator is based on a Fabry-Pérot (FP) linear cavity closed by a high reflectivity fiber mirror and a tunable fiber Bragg grating (FBG). The gain section consists of a Yb-doped DCF pumped by a 975 nm laser diode (absorption: 0.9 dB/m) using the V-groove side pump technique (VSP$`^\begin{array}{c}\text{R}\\ \mathrm{}\hfill \end{array}`$: the pumping light is launched through imbedded V-grooves formed directly into the DCF inner cladding and is totally reflected on the fiber side-wall, yielding up to 90% coupling efficiency Ripin85 ). The doped fiber length is about 3.5 m, it is not optimized in terms of output power and pump absorption in this work. Inside the protective polymer outer cladding, the inner glass cladding is about 200 $`\mu `$m in diameter with a numerical aperture of 0.45 and a star shape profile to ensure efficient mode mixing and high absorption of the pump light in the doped area. A pair of all-glass silica fibers, single mode at 1 $`\mu `$m, are spliced at both ends of the DCF to allow connection to the other fiber optical components.

The tunable FBG, used for frequency discrimination, serves as a low transmission output mirror for the laser cavity. The two key characteristics of the FBG are thus the FWHM of its operating range and the reflectivity. They both play an important role in setting the laser power and line width, and must be optimized and controlled. The tunable FBG is thermally isolated and temperature regulated to stabilize the laser frequency. Piezoelectrical control of mechanical strain applied to the grating allows fine-tuning of the laser frequency to the helium resonance lines.

Fig. 2 displays the architecture of a fiber oscillator in which a loop mirror is used to close the FP linear cavity.

Fiber loop reflectors are easily fabricated and exhibit large reflectivities (50-75%) over a broad frequency range Mortimore88 . The selective tunable FBG is spliced at the output end of the cavity. It directly controls both the operation frequency and the FWHM of the laser.

The operation of that loop mirror oscillator is hereafter fully characterized. Subsequent comparison is made with another fiber oscillator based on the same FP linear cavity architecture, where the loop mirror is replaced by a high reflectivity FBG to fully optimize the laser for OP applications (see Fig. 12 in Sect. 4, that depicts both this second oscillator and the power amplifier used to build the complete all-fiber MOPFA laser). The two fiber oscillators mainly differ by their temporal and spectral behavior.

### 3.3 Operation of the loop mirror oscillator

The optical spectrum of the loop mirror oscillator is shown in Fig. 3.

The emission range of the oscillator duly meets the laser requirements. It includes the whole $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ and $`{}_{}{}^{4}\mathrm{He}`$ absorption spectrum (0.275 nm broad, starting at 1082.908 nm in air for D0 at null magnetic field). Piezo-control of the FBG actually allows fine tuning of the laser over 0.8 nm, i.e., more than 200 GHz (Fig. 3, insert). Therefore, all components of the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$-$`2^3\mathrm{P}`$ transition can be reached, even for OP in a 1.5 T applied magnetic field as indicated in Sect. 2.

The loop mirror oscillator delivers up to 60 mW for a launched pump power $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=1900 mW, with a laser threshold around $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=500 mW (Fig. 4, open squares).

A polarization-independent isolator protects the oscillator from accidentally back-reflected light during operation. Linear polarization is achieved by a fiber polarizer spliced at the end of the laser cavity (extinction ratio $`>`$20 dB). These two components induce a total 3 dB loss, taken into account to determine the power actually delivered at the output of the tunable FBG in Fig. 4.

The average spectral bandwidth (Fig. 4, solid dots) is measured using a FP analyzer (an air gap etalon whose cavity length is piezomodulated at low frequency) with typically 10 GHz free spectral range (FSR) and 80 finesse. The laser modes are not resolved, the laser cavity FSR being in the MHz range. Substantial FWHM broadening is observed when the pump power is increased. An abrupt change in FWHM occurs above $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=920 mW, in the absence of any correlated modification of the laser output power.

### 3.4 Temporal behavior and mode structure

Intensity noise (IN) measurements are performed for the loop mirror oscillator described in Fig. 2 using a photodiode with 700 MHz bandwidth connected both to a fast digital oscilloscope and to an electrical spectrum analyzer (ESA). Fig. 5 displays time variations of the output intensity and frequency spectra obtained at three pump powers ($`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$ = 593, 839 and 1167 mW).

The frequency resolution (1 MHz) does not allow to characterize the frequency and repetition rate of the relaxation oscillations in the self-pulsing regime (see below and BordaisTh ; Bordais03 ; Hideur00 ). The peaks seen on the ESA output traces result from longitudinal modes emitted under the laser line width envelope beating together. This inter-modal beat signal gives access to the number and frequency splitting of the modes emitted on the probed time scale.

Three main types of behavior can be distinguished as the pump power is increased. The first one is observed near laser threshold (e.g., Fig. 5a: $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=593 mW, laser FWHM 1.2 GHz). The laser operates spontaneously in self-pulsing regime, delivering series of pulses of sometimes relatively high peak power. This behavior is thus potentially harmful in view of subsequent high-power amplification. The corresponding IN spectra only include beat frequencies below 150 MHz. Their statistical analysis shows that only peaks up to 40 MHz are always present, a few extra ones randomly appearing at frequencies that are other integer multiple of the FSR of the laser cavity. The second type of behavior (e.g., Fig. 5b: $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=839 mW, laser FWHM still below 1.5 GHz) is characterized by emission of intense light pulses alternating in time with CW light emission. In this case, inter-modal beat frequencies are regularly and permanently distributed under a typically 150 MHz wide envelope. The third and last type of behavior (e.g., Fig. 5c: $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=1167 mW and above) corresponds to a stable regime with a nonzero power continuously emitted, even on atomic lifetime scale (0.1 $`\mu `$s). A very large number of modes simultaneously exist inside the cavity$`:`$ the IN spectrum is a comb of peaks with uniform frequency splitting (the cavity FSR) extending over the whole instrument limited detection bandwidth (the laser FWMH has jumped over the sharp discontinuity seen in Fig. 4 and is in that regime significantly larger than 2 GHz).

Strong non linear effects are known to occur in high-gain rare-earth-doped fibers. The high powers supported by the Yb-doped DCF can lead to instabilities or huge intensity fluctuations due to distributed backscattering effects that are exacerbated in the linear cavity configuration Chernikov97b ; Hideur00 . Substantial variations of the laser bandwidth with pump power have been previously reported Auerbach02 , and intensity fluctuations as well as changes of the mode structure investigated Hideur00 , for Yb-doped fiber lasers in Littrow configuration. These dynamical behaviors are reminiscent of those obtained in Er-doped fiber lasers Lacot91 ; Sanchez93 , but their exact physical origin in Yb-doped fibers may not be yet fully established BordaisTh ; Bordais03 ; Pask95 ; Hideur00 . Self-pulsing has been demonstrated to be dependent on passive cavity losses and favored at high losses BordaisTh ; Bordais03 ; Ortac03 . The loop mirror used in the oscillator cavity has an intrinsic loss of order 1 dB and the reflectivity of the FBG is optimized. However significant losses may be due to technical difficulties encountered in achieving quality splices between the Yb-doped DCF and the pure silica fiber used for the junctions. Polarization-dependent losses induced by the loop mirror are also expected to contribute to the occurrence of the self-pulsing regime. With the loop mirror oscillator, similar $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$ threshold values are observed for the changes of mode structure and temporal dynamics and for the variations of average FWHM. However the comparison of different types of linear cavity lasers indicates that it may well be fortuitous BordaisTh ; Bordais03 .

It is worth noting the correlation observed for this loop mirror oscillator between temporal behavior and mode structure: self-pulsing behavior and a limited number of emitted modes (Fig. 5a), or stable intensity and multimode operation (Fig. 5c). In contrast, a different fiber oscillator based on a ring laser cavity (Fig. 6) exhibited stable output power but quasisinglemode structure CourtadeTh .

For that ring cavity laser (1.64 GHz FWHM) no ESA measurements had been performed. But on one hand the laser intensity had been monitored using a fast photodiode (response time well below 1 $`\mu `$s) and was indeed stable in time. On the other hand the light transmitted through a FP etalon with fixed length, FSR 1.5 GHz and spectral bandwidth 15 MHz (i.e., comparable to the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$-$`2^3\mathrm{P}`$ radiative line width in the presence of collisions in a 1 mbar cell), was discontinuous. Nonzero transmitted intensities could be observed only for very short periods of time (6.7 $`\mu `$s on average, with 0.2 $`\mu `$s rise time and 0.2-0.5 $`\mu `$s fall time at 1/$`e`$), separated by long periods of null transmission (215 $`\mu `$s long on average). Assuming a large mode jitter over the observed 1.64 GHz FWHM to result in random coincidence of the modes frequencies with the transmission bandwidth of the FP etalon, statistical analysis of repeated measurements lead to the conclusion that only 3 or 4 laser modes were simultaneously emitted. This had been confirmed later by a low saturation threshold in light absorption measurements (method and meaning described in section 4) and explains the moderate OP performances of this ring laser despite its proper FWHM and CW operation CourtadeTh .

Therefore the same FP filter is used with the loop mirror oscillator to perform similar tests, for comparison and cross-check with the ESA measurements. CW light is indeed transmitted above $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$1300 mW, suggesting truly multimode laser operation on the relevant atomic time scale (0.1 $`\mu `$s) in the stable regime. In contrast, in the self-pulsing regime light is seldom emitted in the FP spectral transmission bandwidth and the average durations of the null-transmission periods typically vary from 1 ms close to laser threshold, to 0.1 ms at $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=760 mW for instance. These observations fully confirm the conclusions drawn from the above-described IN measurements.

### 3.5 Mode dynamics

The comparison between the IN spectra and the measured FWHM of the loop mirror oscillator suggests that in the self-pulsing regime the measured broad laser bandwidth results from very large mode jitter inside the cavity. In order to confirm this and to directly observe the mode dynamics, we observe the time variation of the beat signal between the fiber oscillator output and that of a singlemode 1083 nm DBR diode (50 mW output power, 3 MHz bandwidth Stoltz96 ). To conveniently tune the two lasers to one another to better than 1 GHz, a fluorescence signal from a sealed $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ cell is used.

Fig. 7b to 7d display power spectra obtained by fast Fourier transform of single-shot digital recordings (duration: 0.1 $`\mu `$s, 5 ms and 0.1 s, respectively) of the signal delivered by a fast photodiode located on the path of the two superimposed beams.

The DBR diode is operating at fixed frequency (typically a few hundred MHz away from the central frequency of the fiber oscillator) and the oscillator is used at low pump power ($`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$ = 593 mW, self-pulsing regime). For comparison, a spectrum obtained without the DBR diode beam (recording time: 0.1 $`\mu `$s) is shown in Fig. 7a. The low frequency parts of the heterodyne IN spectra (DBR diode plus fiber oscillator) in Fig. 7b to 7d are identical to those obtained with the fiber oscillator alone (homodyne autocorrelation spectrum) using the same set-up (Fig. 7a) or using the ESA (see Fig. 5a). As detailed in the previous subsection, they correspond to the intermodal beat signal of the fiber oscillator. At higher frequencies, series of peaks appear which correspond to the beat signal of the diode and the oscillator. Frequency splittings are here again set by the fiber cavity FSR. Only one comb of beat peaks appears at very short recording times (Fig. 7b). Repeated measurements demonstrate that close to laser threshold a very small number of contiguous modes are indeed emitted on the atomic time scale (0.1 $`\mu `$s). On one hand the central frequency of this comb of beat peaks is observed to change from shot to shot, randomly located within the detection bandwidth (of order 1 GHz). The frequency stability of the DBR diode is checked by the observation of the beat signal between two different DBR diodes in the same experimental conditions. The time variations of the beat frequencies are thus attributable to the oscillator only. On the other hand the spectra of single-shot recordings taken on much longer time scales (several ms or more) display a continuous comb of beat peaks extending beyond 1 GHz (see Fig. 7d). Both observations confirm that a large jitter of a small number modes is responsible for the large average oscillator FWHM measured with the modulated FP etalon in the self-pulsing regime. They also indicate that for He atoms the laser would appear as quasisinglemode despite this broad apparent optical spectrum.

Away from the laser threshold, the number of modes beating with the diode increases with the pump power. Broadband ($``$1 GHz FWHM) multimode operation on the atomic time scale is observed in the stable regime. However no further information can be obtained at high $`P_{pump}`$ due to the limited detection bandwidth in this experiment.

Finally the observed temporal behavior, mode structure and dynamics are checked to remain totally unchanged when the output of the laser oscillator is launched into a saturated fiber power amplifier, as expected.

## 4 Atomic response to laser characteristics

### 4.1 Line width measurements

Unsophisticated but accurate measurements of the laser average FWHM can be achieved using a sample of $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ gas. The piezocontrol is used to sweep the oscillator frequency over the C8 and C9 lines. Fluorescence light (or laser absorption) at null nuclear polarization is monitored using a photodiode to extract the resonance line width for a weak probe beam intensity. Power densities well below a few mW/cm2 are needed to avoid saturation (see next subsection). When circularly polarized light is used, a strong local field inhomogeneity must be imposed in the He cell to prevent nuclear polarization build-up, which would significantly alter the line profiles Courtade02 . At high laser intensities finite orientation can still be produced in the metastable state despite strong nuclear relaxation in the ground state (over-polarization of the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ atoms Leduc00 ) and the best way to avoid OP effects is to use linearly polarized light. In any case, the measured relative amplitudes of the two resonance peaks must correspond to the known ratio of the C8 and C9 line intensities (1.284 at very low magnetic field). Absolute calibration of the frequency scale is provided by the hyperfine splitting between C8 and C9 (6.74 GHz). The experimental resonance line width results from the convolution of the atomic Doppler profile with the spectral envelope of the laser.

Recorded signals are very well fit by a set of two Gaussians of FWHM $`D_{\mathrm{exp}}`$, which indicates that the laser spectral profile is actually very close to Gaussian BordaisTh ; Bordais03 . The laser FWHM $`L`$ is thus given by $`L^2=D_{\mathrm{exp}}^2D^2`$. Fig. 8 displays the obtained laser FWHMs as a function of the pump power for the loop mirror oscillator.

The measured variation is in good qualitative agreement with the behavior discussed in section 3 (little change up to $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=920 mW, then abrupt broadening and linear increase above $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=1100 mW). The noticeable quantitative difference (20-30%) between these FWHM results and those obtained with the FP analyzer (Fig. 4, solid dots) mainly arises from the fact that two measurements were not performed in the same frequency range. Indeed, over the 200 GHz broad tuning range, the operating conditions of the laser cavity vary due to changes in the loop mirror reflectivity Mortimore88 . The influence of the mirror characteristics on the laser FWHM is analyzed and discussed in more detail in BordaisTh ; Bordais03 . Experimentally, using the piezomodulated FP analyzer to monitor the laser FWHM (see section 3), we actually observe changes of order 20% with operating frequency between the extreme limits of the tuning range of the loop mirror oscillator. The amplitudes of these FWHM changes depend on how close to threshold the laser is operated. Therefore, for OP applications the laser should be kept working in stable operating conditions and precisely characterized at the atomic frequency used to polarize the gas.

### 4.2 Absorption measurements

Absorption measurements provide quantitative information on the actual fraction of light that can be used for efficient OP of the atomic nuclei. Laser absorption is measured as a function of the incident power density for the oscillator tuned to the C9 resonance line, in a sealed cell (5 cm long, 5 cm in diameter) filled with 1.6 mbar of ultrapure $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ gas. In order to perform accurate comparison between several operating conditions of the laser cavity measurements are performed successively with identical discharge conditions to keep the $`2^3\mathrm{S}`$ number density constant. The same basic equipment is required, except that a lock-in amplifier advantageously improves the signal-to-noise ratio at low laser powers. As the laser power is varied, care is taken to keep the photodiode operating at nearly constant output level (using attenuators) to avoid possible biases due to saturation or non-linear response of the device. The gas is also always maintained at null nuclear polarization. The laser beam with Gaussian transverse intensity profile is expanded and a diaphragm of known open area is inserted to select a small central fraction of the collimated beam. Over the probed section the radial variation of the laser power has been checked not to exceed a few percents, so that the (quasi)uniform power densities are precisely determined from absolute power measurements. To reach strong optical saturation of the gas sample and to complete the investigations close to laser threshold, a 0.5 W fiber amplifier is used to boost up the light power delivered by the laser oscillator.

The relative absorption data plotted in Fig. 9a correspond to absorption rates measured with the loop mirror oscillator for different values of the launched pump power, normalized to the maximum absorption rate obtained at very low power intensities for each $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$.

At low launched pump powers (solid symbols) the absorption profiles do not vary much with $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$. They are quite similar to those usually obtained with a singlemode DBR diode (Fig. 9a, dotted line: data from reference CourtadeTh , obtained in the same cell with comparable discharge conditions and measurement protocol). This confirms the conclusion drawn from the optical measurements and spectral analysis in section 3 for the unstable and self-pulsing regimes. As pump power is increased, the strong decrease of absorption due to optical saturation suddenly occurs at much higher power densities. This change in atomic response to laser excitation is a signature of the abrupt transition of the oscillator to the broadband multimode emission regime. At high launched pump powers (above $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=920 mW, open symbols) the relative absorptions measured for a fixed power density become significantly larger when $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$ is increased

To characterize this change in behavior we introduce the power density $`𝒫_{1/3}`$ where the measured absorption reaches 1/3 of its maximum value (dashed line in Fig. 9a). $`𝒫_{1/3}`$ is plotted in Fig. 9b as a function of the loop mirror oscillator FWHM. It indeed remains almost constant up to $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=920 mW, and close to the 0.64 W/cm2 value typically obtained with the singlemode diode (solid star, Fig. 9b). It then increases quite linearly with the laser FWHM above $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$=1100 mW. This sudden change of absorption saturation threshold correlates precisely with the abrupt change in spectral behavior described in section 3.

A relevant quantity for the OP process is the total number of absorbed photons per second, since it is the angular momentum deposition rate that determines the actual number of oriented nuclei. Absolute absorption rates are therefore plotted in Fig. 10 (same measurements performed with the loop mirror oscillator, data without normalization).

At all light power densities the absorption rates are observed to vary by more than a factor 2 over the probed range of launched pump powers. For small $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$ (solid symbols) the absorption rates at low laser intensities rapidly vary with power density down to 10 mW/cm$`^2.`$ They tend to increase with $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$, as can be expected due to the increased number of emitted laser modes at resonance with the atoms. Differences, however, become hardly noticeable above a few hundreds mW/cm2. For $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}>`$920 mW (open symbols) saturation effects are small at very and moderately low power densities. The maximum absorption rates decrease when $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$ rises due to excessively large laser FWHMs (useless power emitted outside the Doppler line). At higher laser powers (above 1 W/cm2) the absorption rate is nearly twice larger than that obtained at low $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$ because of multimode light emission by the loop mirror oscillator. This absorption rate is observed to be independent of $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$, which means that the measured change of relative absorption and saturation threshold (Fig. 9) is exactly compensated by the effect of strongly increased FWHMs in that regime (Fig. 8). Above 20 W/cm2 very strong optical saturation occurs regardless of the laser FWHM and operation regime (absortion rates well below 1%).

The observed modification of absorption profiles and atomic resonance line saturation rates is evidence of a strong variation of the spectral coverage between the Doppler and laser profiles under the influence of the operating conditions of the loop mirror cavity. The absorption measurements do not provide as many details on the mode structure and behavior of the fiber laser as do the optical spectral measurements in section 3. But they are rather easy to carry out, and the experimental data can be quantitatively analyzed to get a relevant characterization of the laser features for OP purposes.

To emphasize the influence of the laser spectral characteristics on the response of the atomic system, Fig. 11 displays the change of absorption rates with the laser FWHM for various light power densities shined onto the gas sample.

Fig. 11a shows the expected crossover behavior between the high and low power limits qualitatively discussed above. These results are obtained with the phenomenological OP model described in Leduc00 , using for the spectral coverage parameter $`X_\mathrm{s}`$ the rough estimate $`erf(\sqrt{Ln(2)}L/D)`$ introduced in section 2. The experimental data are plotted in Fig. 11b. Measurements appear to be in good qualitative agreement with the computed estimates. For $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}>`$920 mW (data points with $`L/D1`$ in Fig. 11b) we observe at the lowest power densities the expected strong absorption decrease with laser FWHM, above a maximum located somewhere below $`L/D=`$ 0.5. The dominant contribution here comes from the growing fraction of off resonance photons in the incident beam, resulting in the $`1/\sqrt{1+L^2/D^2}`$ scaling discussed in section 2. The location of the absorption maximum moves towards $`L/D1`$ as the laser power increases as indicated by the computations. At very high powers absorption stops varying with the laser FWHM for $`L/D>1`$. Relevant experimental data with $`L/D<1`$ are not available with the loop mirror oscillator. The results obtained outside the multimode regime (appearing at $`L/D<0.56`$ in Fig. 11b) have been included only to visualize the amplitude of absorption changes observed at small $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$. But, as demonstrated in the previous section, the measured FWHMs (1-1.1 GHz below $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}<`$ 920 mW) indeed result from frequency jitter and on their time scale the atoms actually interact with a finite set of discrete modes. This situation might tentatively be described by a set narrow continuous distributions with increasing effective FWHMs (to account for the observed change in IN spectra envelopes with $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$). This would certainly make the low $`P_{\mathrm{pump}}`$ data delineate clear absorption maxima in Fig. 11b, with location and rounded shape closer to expectations. However, the values of these effective FWHMs are difficult to accurately assess a priori, and their meaning and relevance for further studies are questionable considering the crude description of interaction probabilities between atoms and photons in the model.

### 4.3 Laser optimization for OP applications

Data in Fig. 10 and 11 indicate that, to optimize absorption, the laser FWHM should lie somewhere between 1 and 2.4 GHz, depending on laser intensity. For OP purposes the laser intensities are usually on the order of 1 W/cm2. Therefore the optimal emission bandwidth should indeed be comparable to the atomic Doppler line width, as qualitatively expected from the discussion in section 2. However, this FWHM range cannot be properly investigated with the loop mirror cavity oscillator, due to the abrupt FWHM jump from 1.1 to 2.5 GHz (see Fig. 8) as well as the switching from quasi-singlemode to truly multimode operation. The cavity configuration needs to be changed to achieve multimode operation and laser FWHM adjustable down to 1 GHz.

This is achieved with double FBG linear cavities, using a high reflectivity fiber Bragg grating instead of the loop mirror. The architecture of the double FBG oscillator is depicted in Fig. 12 (master oscillator).

With that cavity configuration the threshold for the instability onset is more easily reduced since FBG mirrors have no intrinsic losses.

Optimization of the FBG characteristics turns out to be crucial to obtain both stable multimode operation and narrow spectral bandwidth BordaisTh ; Bordais03 . The selective low reflectivity FBG mainly determines the smallest FWHM achievable in multimode operation ($``$1 GHz). Most frequently, the range of launched pump powers where the double FBG oscillators exhibit unstable behavior is very small. Sometimes no self-pulsing is observed, even close to laser threshold. The FWHM of the double FBG oscillator increases with the pump power. It can thus be adjusted to optimize the OP performances of the laser. However, the pump power also directly controls the power delivered by the oscillator. Therefore, to use it as a master oscillator, care must be taken to get enough output power to feed into the high gain power fiber amplifier. Recently, considerable progress has been made in the processes used to imprint Bragg grating patterns onto photosensitive fibers. Quality FBG tailored to the user’s specifications are now available. This, combined with a better control of all loss sources inside the laser cavity (e.g., in the fiber splicings), allows for the routine building of multimode tunable fiber oscillators with adjustable FWHM between 1 and 2 GHz.

Fig. 12 shows the complete structure of the dedicated all-fiber MOPFA lasers designed for operation at 1083 nm with optimized spectral characteristics in view of OP applications. The power booster is here, for instance, a 5W fiber power amplifier with two-stage architecture. Linear polarization is required at the output fiber connector. For the user’s convenience the output fiber may be a few meters long. Polarization maintaining fibers are available but still quite expensive. A mechanical polarization controller is thus included in the laser to pre-compensate for polarization changes induced by light propagation in the output fiber.

Test measurements are performed in helium cells with a double FBG oscillator in MOPFA configuration with a single-stage 2W fiber amplifier, and two other ones with 5W fiber amplifiers. These lasers achieve broadband multimode emission with, respectively, 1.63, 1.67 and 2.10 GHz FWHMs (measured at the $`\mathrm{He}`$ resonance wavelength).

Fig. 13 displays absorption data for the 1.63 GHz FWHM fiber laser with double FBG cavity.

Comparison is made with concomitant measurements performed in fully identical conditions with a singlemode laser diode. We use here the same 1.6 mbar $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ cell as that used to test the loop mirror oscillator (Figs 10 and 11). However, for the present series of measurements the discharge is stronger, leading to more metastable atoms excited in the gas and proportionally higher absorption rates. Fig. 13a shows that at the limit of very low power densities (no optical saturation) the absorption rate of the fiber laser is 0.77 $`\pm `$ 0.02 times that of the DBR diode. This is in very good agreement with the expected decrease obtained from the convolution of the laser and atomic line profiles ($`1/\sqrt{1+L^2/D^2}`$ = 0.772 for a laser FWHM $`L`$= 1.63 GHz). Saturation occurs at high powers, but clearly in a much less severe manner for the multimode laser than for the singlemode one. The measured threshold power density $`𝒫_{1/3}`$ is much larger for the fiber laser (3.1 W/cm2) than for the DBR diode (0.6 W/cm2). As a consequence the absorbed light power can be as much as twice larger for the broadband fiber laser at high power densities (Fig. 13b).

Another set of comparative measurements is performed with the two double FBG cavity oscillators in 5W MOPFA configuration that have 1.67 and 2.10 GHz FWHMs (Fig. 14).

The absorption rate measured at very low power densities is 7% larger for the 1.67 GHz broad laser than for the 2.10 GHz one (Fig. 14a). This can be explained by the more favorable presence there of a smaller bandwidth in the $`L/D1`$ range due to the $`1/\sqrt{1+L^2/D^2}`$ scaling. It is also in good agreement with both FWHMs exceeding the best value for maximum absorption at low power densities as suggested by the loop mirror oscillator tests and confirmed by the numerical calculations ($`L=`$0.6-1 GHz, see Fig. 11). No significant difference between the two multimode lasers is observed above 1 W/cm2. This again matches the weak FWHM dependence of the test results and expectations at high power densities (see Fig. 11). Saturation effects strongly increase above 1 W/cm2 (Fig. 14a), limiting the rise of deposited power with incident laser power at higher photon flux densities (Fig. 14b).

The typical OP power densities presently used for production of polarized gas lie between 0.2 and 2.4 W/cm2 Becker94 ; Nacher99 ; Gentile01 ; LKBISMRM03 ; MainzISMRM03 . Our results suggest that optimal performances should be achieved with 2 GHz-broad lasers at the upper end of that power range, while 1.2-1.5 GHz FWHMs might be preferred at the lower end. Preliminary OP measurements performed around 1 W/cm2 indicate that the nuclear polarizations obtained in a 1.3 mbar $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ cell at moderate discharge intensity are 10% higher for the 1.67 GHz FWHM laser than for the 2.10 GHz FWHM one. Further experimental work is still needed to reliably assess the optimal line width in multimode operation with respect to the OP performances in well-controlled situations. For this purpose, the double FBG cavity configuration provides the most convenient opportunity to vary the laser FWHM ad libitum, from one to a few GHz, through the control of the launched pump power. Systematic measurements are in progress, both in sealed cells and in the presence of gas flow. However, due the variety of OP conditions to be explored, efforts to develop a predictive model based on accurate phenomenological input parameters must be also continued to provide a comprehensive overview of the expected optimal OP performances.

## 5 Conclusion

We have demonstrated and tested the operation of all-fiber tunable lasers at 1083 nm for $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ OP applications. In the linear cavity configuration, with a loop mirror and a low reflectivity fiber Bragg grating, evolution of the laser line width and mode structure with launched pump power has been observed and analyzed in detail using a variety of optical measurements. In view of OP applications, simple tests have also been presented to characterize the laser at the $`\mathrm{He}`$ wavelength on the relevant time scales. The need for a multimode light source with a FWHM matched to the atomic line width is clearly identified. It is met with the double FBG cavity fiber oscillators.

These stable multimode oscillators with 1-2 GHz spectral FWHM are now combined with power amplifiers in commercially available MOPFA devices, providing stand-alone all-fiber laser sources delivering up to 10 W output power Bordais03 . Compact turn-key 1083 nm lasers that require no servicing from the user are attractive and convenient tools for research work. They are also ideally suited for operation outside the physics laboratories, e.g., at the clinics for onsite production of hyperpolarized gas next to the magnetic resonance imaging scanner LKBISMRM03 . In a higher-stage MOPFA configuration, a 1 or 2 W all-fiber MOPFA laser with double FBG oscillator can be used as a master laser to launch a more powerful fiber power booster to take full advantage of the truly multimode structure and allow very large scale production of highly polarized $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ gas. Preliminary tests of operation at 1083 nm up to 40 W have been performed WHprivatecom40W .

For users, precise line width specifications and identification of the ultimate physical limitations of MEOP will contribute to bringing new record $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ nuclear polarizations within reach. For laser manufacturers, the main technical challenge now lies in the cost-effective production of robust, reliable and very powerful fiber sources for production of large quantities of polarized gas to support the wide dissemination of established applications of hyperpolarized $`{}_{}{}^{3}\mathrm{He}`$ gas and the emergence of new ones Medr1 ; Medr2 ; Meda ; Phy1 ; Phy2 ; Phy3 ; Phy4 ; Phy5 ; Phy6 ; Phy7 ; Phy8 .


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# An example of quantum control via Feshbach resonance in Bose-Einstein condensates

## Abstract

We present a simple example of quantum control in Bose-Einstein condensates via Feshbach resonance. By tuning an initially positive scattering length to zero, it is possible to generate oscillatory motion of the condensate that results from quantum interference. The density oscillation is accompanied by a periodic enhancement of the quantum mechanical squeezing of the amplitude quadrature.

With the rapid technological advances in quantum physics and nanoscience, it is becoming increasingly necessary to develop methods of quantum control based on the laws of quantum mechanics. Owing to the microscopic scale involved, one of the main avenues so far for the manipulation and control has been the interaction of the quantum system with an electromagnetic wave. Prominent examples include atom optics and cavity QED.

The Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), created experimentally almost a decade ago, is a unique mesoscopic quantum system which is being studied intensely by a great number of researchers from various disciplines. Many experimental results have been reported in quick succession since the initial production of BEC. One of the important, early BEC experiments was that of inducing Feshbach resonances to tune the $`s`$-wave scattering length. Recent experiments have provided the opportunity to tune the scattering length from the repulsive ($`a>0`$) through the ideal gas ($`a0`$) to the attractive ($`a<0`$) regime. Feshbach resonance has become an indispensible tool in the studies of BEC ranging from the production of molecular BEC to the observation of a “bosenova”, a phenomenon closely related to the supernova. A large number of theoretical studies on the collapse and the subsequent “explosion” of BEC has since also appeared in the literature.

A Feshbach resonance occurs when the energy of a pair of atoms in the condensate matches that of a metastable molecular state. The $`s`$-wave scattering length, which is a function of the energy difference between the atomic and the molecular states, may be varied near a Feshbach resonance using magnetic field:

$$a(B)=a_b\left(1\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }B}{BB_0}\right),$$
(1)
where, for the case of 85Rb in the $`f=2`$, $`m_f=2`$ hyperfine state, a Feshbach resonance characterized by the width $`\mathrm{\Delta }B11.6`$G and the off-resonant background scattering length $`a_b450a_0`$ where $`a_0`$ is the Bohr radius, is found at $`B_0154.9`$G . We show in this paper that, in theory, tuning the scattering length of BEC to zero via Feshbach resonace (e.g. by setting the magnetic field to $`B=\mathrm{\Delta }B+B_0`$) constitutes a simple method of quantum control – observable changes are induced in the density of the BEC, and in addition, quantum mechanical squeezing is realized.

A recent, related theoretical work has considered periodic sign-changing modulation of the scattering length similar to dispersion management schemes in fiber optics. This method was found to induce “breathers” which oscillate between the Thomas-Fermi (TF) and Gaussian configurations. Our proposed scheme, although similar, does not require changes in the sign of the scattering length. We propose a situation in which an initially positive scattering length $`a>0`$ is switched to $`ϵ`$ where $`ϵ`$ is negligibly small but positive. Because $`a`$ is at all times non-negative, this precludes the possibility of instability and collapse introduced when $`a<0`$. We study the subsequent evolution of the condensate as $`a`$ is kept constant at $`ϵ0`$, away from the resonance.

As in Ref. , we assume that atom losses are minimized by careful experimental control, and that we are in an off-resonant regime in which any molecules formed are rapidly destroyed, overdamping any atom-molecule population oscillations. In such a regime, the formation of a molecular condensate is suppressed and an accurate description of the condensate may be assumed to be provided by the Gross-Pitaevskii Equation (GPE). We write the time-independent GPE as follows

$$\left[\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2M}^2+V(𝐫)+g|\psi _c(𝐫)|^2\right]\psi _c(𝐫)=\mu \psi _c(𝐫),$$
(2)
where $`\mu `$ is the chemical potential, $`V(𝐫)`$ is the harmonic confining potential of the form $`\frac{1}{2}M\omega _t^2𝐫^2`$, and $`g=4\pi Na\mathrm{}^2/M`$ is the interparticle coupling constant with the $`s`$-wave scattering length $`a`$ and the total number of atoms $`N`$. $`\psi _c`$ represents the condensate wave function which is normalized to one, $`|\psi _c(𝐫)|^2𝑑𝐫=1`$, as we have included the total number of condensate atoms in the coupling constant.

If the scattering length $`a`$ is set equal to zero suddenly (within a time scale $`t1/\omega _t`$, to avoid any adiabatic following), the eigenstates of the system become the harmonic oscillator states, $`\varphi _n(𝐫)`$, with the corresponding eigenvalues $`n\mathrm{}\omega _t`$. It is straightforward to see that the equation obeyed by $`\psi _c(𝐫)`$ after the switch to $`a0`$ can be written as a set of equations

$$i\mathrm{}\frac{d\alpha _n}{dt}=n\mathrm{}\omega _t\alpha _n,$$
(3)
where $`\alpha _n\varphi _n^{}(𝐫)\psi _c(𝐫)𝑑𝐫`$ are the expansion coefficients of the BEC ground state expanded using a complete set of eigenfunctions $`\{\varphi _n(𝐫)\}`$, $`n=0,1,\mathrm{}`$. The coefficients $`\alpha _n`$ satisfy the normalization relation $`_n|\alpha _n|^2=1`$, and may arbitrarily be chosen to be real. The solution to Eq. (3), which assumes that the switch to $`a0`$ occurs at time $`t=0`$, is trivially given by $`\alpha _n=\alpha _n(0)\mathrm{exp}(in\omega _tt)`$. This causes the condensate wave function to become time-dependent: $`\psi _c(𝐫,t)=_n\alpha _n(0)\mathrm{exp}(in\omega _tt)\varphi _n(𝐫)`$. In particular, the density of the BEC ground state is now given as

$`|\psi _c(𝐫,t)|^2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{m,n}{}}\alpha _m^{}(0)\alpha _n(0)\mathrm{exp}[i(nm)\omega _tt]\varphi _m^{}(𝐫)\varphi _n(𝐫)`$ (4)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}|\alpha _n(0)|^2|\varphi _n(𝐫)|^2+{\displaystyle \underset{n>m}{}}2\alpha _m(0)\alpha _n(0)\mathrm{cos}[(nm)\omega _tt]\varphi _m(𝐫)\varphi _n(𝐫),`$ (5)
where we have used the fact that $`\alpha _n(0)`$ and $`\varphi _n(𝐫)`$ are real. Equation (5) clearly demonstates a time-dependent density oscillation resulting from quantum interference. The form of the density is suggestive of a diffraction grating in time, in which various components of the condensate wave function interfere with one another. The “visibility” $`𝒱`$, of the temporal interference at the center of the trap may be calculated by defining the “intensity” $`I=|\psi _c(0,t)|^2`$:

$$𝒱=\frac{I_{max}I_{min}}{I_{max}+I_{min}}=\frac{2_{n>m}\alpha _m(0)\alpha _n(0)\varphi _m(0)\varphi _n(0)}{_n|\alpha _n(0)|^2|\varphi _n(0)|^2}.$$
(6)
The interference of various contributing components implies that the initial profile of the condensate is an important factor in determining the character of the density oscillation and the associated visibility. For a small BEC far from the TF limit, $`\psi _c`$ may well be approximated by a Gaussian. This implies that amongst all the expansion coefficients, $`\alpha _0(0)`$ and $`\alpha _2(0)`$ should be dominant. The second lowest coefficient, $`\alpha _1(0)`$, that corresponds to the first excited state $`\varphi _1(𝐫)`$ is negligible since the condensate in a harmonic trap is an even function. Assuming all the other coefficients are very small, we get $`|\psi (𝐫,t)|^2|\alpha _0(0)|^2|\varphi _0(𝐫)|^2+|\alpha _2(0)|^2|\varphi _2(𝐫)|^2+2\alpha _0(0)\alpha _2(0)\mathrm{cos}(2\omega _tt)\varphi _0(𝐫)\varphi _2(𝐫)`$. Thus the condensate follows an oscillation at frequency $`2\omega _t`$ with the corresponding visibility at the center of the trap given as $`𝒱=2\alpha _0(0)\alpha _2(0)\varphi _0(0)\varphi _2(0)/[|\alpha _0(0)|^2|\varphi _n(0)|^2+|\alpha _2(0)|^2|\varphi _2(0)|^2]`$. Figure 1 shows the maximum density variation of the BEC after tuning the scattering length to zero, with the top figure giving the result for a small condensate and the bottom figure for a condensate in the TF approximation. As expected, different oscillation patterns are observed whereas the frequency of oscillation is $`2\omega _t`$ in both cases. This implies that in the TF approximation, the lower coefficients are still dominant, although with different weightings from that for a small condensate.

It is found that the Feshbach resonance may also be used to control the amplitude and phase quadratures of the condensate mean field. In particular, we consider the changes induced in their respective variances i.e. the amount of quantum mechanical squeezing. Defining the usual harmonic oscillator annihilation (creation) operator, $`b`$ ($`b^{}`$), such that $`b\varphi _0(𝐫)=0`$, $`b\varphi _n(𝐫)=\sqrt{n}\varphi _{n1}(𝐫)`$ and $`b^{}\varphi _n(𝐫)=\sqrt{n+1}\varphi _{n+1}(𝐫)`$, we note that, using $`|\psi _c(𝐫,t)=_n\alpha _n(0)\mathrm{exp}(in\omega _tt)|\varphi _n(𝐫)`$, the number of atoms is conserved as to be expected: $`\psi _c(𝐫,t)|b^{}b|\psi _c(𝐫,t)=\psi _c(𝐫,0)|b^{}b|\psi _c(𝐫,0)`$. On the other hand,

$$\psi _c(𝐫,t)|b|\psi _c(𝐫,t)=\psi _c(𝐫,0)|b|\psi _c(𝐫,0)e^{i\omega _tt},$$
(7)
implying that the quadrature amplitude of the field $`X_1=\frac{1}{2}b+b^{}`$ undergoes a time-dependent oscillation of the form $`X_1(t)=X_1(0)\mathrm{cos}(\omega _tt)`$ while the quadrature phase of the field is given by $`X_2(t)=\frac{1}{2i}bb^{}=X_2(0)\mathrm{sin}(\omega _tt)`$. The variance $`(\mathrm{\Delta }X)^2=X^2X^2`$ of these quadratures are given by

$`[\mathrm{\Delta }X_1(t)]^2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\left[C(b^{},b)+C(b,b^{})+C(b,b)e^{i2\omega _tt}+C(b^{},b^{})e^{i2\omega _tt}\right],`$ (8)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left[C(b^{},b)+C(b,b)\mathrm{cos}(2\omega _tt)+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\right],`$ (9)
$`[\mathrm{\Delta }X_2(t)]^2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\left[C(b^{},b)+C(b,b^{})C(b,b)e^{i2\omega _tt}C(b^{},b^{})e^{i2\omega _tt}\right],`$ (10)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left[C(b^{},b)C(b,b)\mathrm{cos}(2\omega _tt)+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\right],`$ (11)
where we have introduced a shortened notation for the correlation between two operators $`C(X,Y)=XYXY`$, and used the fact that $`C(b,b)C(b^{},b^{})`$ for $`\alpha _n`$ real. In terms of the normalized expansion coefficients,

$`C(b,b)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}\sqrt{(n+2)(n+1)}\alpha _n\alpha _{n+2}{\displaystyle \underset{n,m}{}}\sqrt{(n+1)(m+1)}\alpha _n\alpha _{n+1}\alpha _m\alpha _{m+1},`$ (12)
$`C(b^{},b)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n,m}{}}\sqrt{n}\alpha _n^2\sqrt{(n+1)(m+1)}\alpha _{n+1}\alpha _n\alpha _m\alpha _{m+1},`$ (13)
and since $`\alpha _n0`$ when $`n`$ is odd for the case of a harmonically trapped condensate (an even function), the correlations may also be written as $`C(b,b)_n\sqrt{(2n+2)(2n+1)}\alpha _{2n}\alpha _{2n+2}`$ and $`C(b^{},b)_n\sqrt{2n}\alpha _{2n}^2`$. Equations (8-11) indicate a time-dependent oscillation of the variances and hence quantum mechanical squeezing of these quadratures. The change from the original variances when the scattering length was not tuned is found to be

$$[\mathrm{\Delta }X_1(t)]^2[\mathrm{\Delta }X_1(0)]^2=\frac{C(b,b)}{2}\left[\mathrm{cos}(2\omega _tt)1\right],$$
(14)
$$[\mathrm{\Delta }X_2(t)]^2[\mathrm{\Delta }X_2(0)]^2=\frac{C(b,b)}{2}\left[1\mathrm{cos}(2\omega _tt)\right].$$
(15)
The maximum changes in the variances imply that the amplitude quadrature $`X_1`$ is squeezed periodically at the expense of the phase quadrature as a result of the change in the scattering length. The variance of the phase quadrature is never reduced from that of the original value. Plots of these differences are presented in Fig. 2.

The induced changes in the quantum state of BEC may be visualized using the Q-function

$$Q(\beta ,\beta ^{})=\beta |\rho |\beta e^{|\beta |^2}\left|\underset{n}{}\frac{\beta ^ne^{i\omega _tt}\alpha _n}{\sqrt{n!}}\right|^2$$
(16)
where $`|\beta =e^{|\beta |^2/2}_n[\beta ^n/\sqrt{n!}]|n`$ denotes the usual coherent state with $`\beta |b^{}b|\beta =|\beta |^2`$ and $`\rho =|\psi _c\psi _c|`$. Figure 3 shows the time development of the Wigner contour for the small (Gaussian) and large (TF) condensates, at times $`t=0`$ and $`t=\pi /(2\omega _t)`$. It is seen that the formerly stationary Wigner contour is now time-dependent and undergoes a rotation about its center at frequency $`\omega _t`$, confirming the oscillatory behavior of the quandrature squeezing. It should also be noted that, although the density variation of Fig. 1 may be observed relatively straightforwardly, the more experimentally involved quantum tomography or a projection synthesis technique are required in order to completely measure the Q-function directly.

We note that similar idea may be applied to a system of rotating BEC. In such a case, the corresponding time-independent GPE is given by

$$\left[\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2M}_r^2+\frac{1}{2}M\omega _r^2r^2+g|\psi _{rot}(𝐫)|^2L_z\mathrm{\Omega }\right]\psi _{rot}(𝐫)=\mu \psi _{rot}(𝐫),$$
(17)
where $`\omega _r`$ is the frequency of harmonic potential in the $`xy`$ plane; $`𝐫=(x,y)`$, $`L_z=|𝐫\times 𝐩|`$ is the angular momentum, and $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the rotational frequency of the trap. The eigenstates of the system after tuning the scattering length to zero are then the Landau states $`\varphi _{nm}^L(𝐫)`$:

$$\varphi _{nm}^L(𝐫)=\frac{e^{|z|^2/(2a_r^2)}_+^m_{}^ne^{|z|^2/a_r^2}}{\sqrt{\pi a_r^2n!m!}},$$
(18)
with eigenvalues $`ϵ_{n,m}=\mathrm{}[(\omega _r+\mathrm{\Omega })n+(\omega _r\mathrm{\Omega })m+\omega _r]`$, where $`z=(x+iy)/a_r`$, $`a_r=\sqrt{\mathrm{}/M\omega _r}`$, $`_\pm =(a_r/2)(_x\pm i_y)`$. It is clear that, with the nondegenerate energy levels $`n^{}=(n,m)`$, all of the previous arguments may be carried over directly to this example.

In summary, we have shown a way to execute quantum control via Feshbach resonance – the density and also the quantum mechanical squeezing of a trapped atomic BEC may, in principle, be controlled by tuning the $`s`$-wave scattering length. Experimental challenges such as the loss of atoms, and the inherent noise of the external magnetic field must be addressed in order for this scheme to be successful.

This work was supported by NSF, ONR, and ARO. SC wishes to thank Prof. Keith Burnett for earlier discussions.