Ultracold Atom News

A post doc position is opened at SYRTE in Paris Observatory in the research team of Franck Pereira dos Santos in the frame of the FORCA-G project funded by the ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche). Description of the project: The project FORCA-G aims at studying the short range interactions between a surface and atoms trapped in its vicinity. Using cold atoms confined in the wells of an optical standing wave, the atom-surface potential will be measured with high sensitivity using atom interferometry techniques. The experiment will allow a measurement of the Casimir Polder interaction (QED vacuum fluctuations) with unprecedented accuracy, and a test of gravity at short distances, which will put stringent bounds on a possible deviation from the known laws of physics, or discover new short range interactions related to gravity, as described by several models based on unification theories. This project is a collaboration between our team at SYRTE and the team of Astrid Lambrecht from Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel. Status of the project and program of work: A highly sensitive force sensor based on a trapped atom interferometer has recently been demonstrated in a proof of principle experiment in which the atoms were trapped far from the surface of interest. The experiment is currently being modified in order to bring the atoms close to the surface of a dielectric mirror and perform measurement of atom-surface interactions in the micrometer range, which constitutes the objectives of the work of the post-doc. Required skills and experience: Good background in AMO physics, and more specifically in cold/ultracold atoms, high power lasers, dipole traps, atom interferometry techniques. Contact : Franck Pereira dos Santos SYRTE 61 av de l'Observatoire 75014 PARIS Phone : + 33 1 40 51 23 86 email : franck.pereira@obspm.fr