Lattice-depth measurement using continuous grating atom diffraction (2019)
Journal Article
Beswick, B. T., Hughes, I. G., & Gardiner, S. A. (2019). Lattice-depth measurement using continuous grating atom diffraction. Physical Review A, 100(6), Article 063629. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.100.063629

We propose an approach to characterizing the depths of optical lattices, in which either an atomic gas is given a finite initial momentum or, alternatively, a corresponding “walking” configuration is applied to the optical lattice itself. This leads... Read More about Lattice-depth measurement using continuous grating atom diffraction.

An intuitive approach to structuring the three electric field components of light (2019)
Journal Article
Maucher, F., Skupin, S., Gardiner, S., & Hughes, I. (2019). An intuitive approach to structuring the three electric field components of light. New Journal of Physics, 21, Article 013032. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aaf711

This paper presents intuitive interpretations of tightly focused beams of light by drawing analogies with two-dimensional electrostatics, magnetostatics and fluid dynamics. We use a Helmholtz decomposition of the transverse electric field components... Read More about An intuitive approach to structuring the three electric field components of light.

Lattice-depth measurement using multipulse atom diffraction in and beyond the weakly diffracting limit (2019)
Journal Article
Beswick, B. T., Hughes, I. G., & Gardiner, S. A. (2019). Lattice-depth measurement using multipulse atom diffraction in and beyond the weakly diffracting limit. Physical Review A, 99(1), Article 013614. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.99.013614

Precise knowledge of optical lattice depths is important for a number of areas of atomic physics, most notably in quantum simulation, atom interferometry, and for the accurate determination of transition matrix elements. In such experiments, lattice... Read More about Lattice-depth measurement using multipulse atom diffraction in and beyond the weakly diffracting limit.

Creating Complex Optical Longitudinal Polarization Structures (2018)
Journal Article
Maucher, F., Skupin, S., Gardiner, S., & Hughes, I. (2018). Creating Complex Optical Longitudinal Polarization Structures. Physical Review Letters, 120(16), Article 163903. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.120.163903

In this Letter, we show that it is possible to structure the longitudinal polarization component of light. We illustrate our approach by demonstrating linked and knotted longitudinal vortex lines acquired upon nonparaxially propagating a tightly focu... Read More about Creating Complex Optical Longitudinal Polarization Structures.

epsilon-pseudoclassical model for quantum resonances in a cold dilute atomic gas periodically driven by finite-duration standing-wave laser pulses (2016)
Journal Article
Beswick, B., Hughes, I., Gardiner, S., Astier, H., Andersen, M., & Daszuta, B. (2016). epsilon-pseudoclassical model for quantum resonances in a cold dilute atomic gas periodically driven by finite-duration standing-wave laser pulses. Physical Review A, 94(6), Article 063604. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.94.063604

Atom interferometers are a useful tool for precision measurements of fundamental physical phenomena, ranging from the local gravitational-field strength to the atomic fine-structure constant. In such experiments, it is desirable to implement a high-m... Read More about epsilon-pseudoclassical model for quantum resonances in a cold dilute atomic gas periodically driven by finite-duration standing-wave laser pulses.

Excitation of knotted vortex lines in matter waves (2016)
Journal Article
Maucher, F., Gardiner, S., & Hughes, I. (2016). Excitation of knotted vortex lines in matter waves. New Journal of Physics, 18(6), Article 063016. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/6/063016

We study the creation of knotted ultracold matter waves in Bose–Einstein condensates via coherent two-photon Raman transitions with a Λ level configuration. The Raman transition allows an indirect transfer of atoms from the internal state $| a\rangle... Read More about Excitation of knotted vortex lines in matter waves.