Recent progress in the study of Bose-Einstein condensation ~BEC! is associated with the possibility of creating multicomponent condensates of different, coherently coupled, atomic species. Furthermore, the possibility of creating a hybrid condensate of atomic and molecular fractions has been suggested @1#, and has recently received some experimental support @2#. In such an atomic-molecular BEC ...

We suggest and examine an atom optics focusing element based on the near field arising in the diffraction of laser radiation by an aperture of small size (less than an optical wavelength) in a thin conducting screen. The quasi-re~onant interaction potential of the atom and the near field is found to be close to the potential of the ideal lens. Within the quasi-classical dynamics of atoms we con...

After a brief introduction to the Ðeld of atom optics and to atomic mirrors, we present experimental results obtained in our group during the last two years while studying the reÑection of rubidium atoms by an evanescent wave. These involve the Ðrst measurement of the van der Waals force between an atom in its ground state and a dielectric wall, as well as the demonstration of a reÑection grati...

We use an atom interferometer to investigate the dynamics of matter waves in a periodically pulsed optical standing wave: an atom optics realization of the quantum kicked rotor that exhibits chaotic classical dynamics. We experimentally show that a measure of the coherence between the interferometer diffraction orders can revive after a quick initial loss, and can approach a finite asymptote as...

Quantum control of atoms at ultrashort distances from surfaces would open a new paradigm in quantum optics and offer novel tool for the investigation near-surface physics. Here, we investigate motional states that are bound weakly to surface hot optical nanofiber. We theoretically demonstrate with optimized mechanical properties nanofiber these quantized despite phonon-induced decoherence. furt...

Starting from the first principles of nonrelativistic QED we have derived the system of Maxwell-Schrödinger equations, which can be used for theoretical description of atom optical phenomena at high densities of atoms and high intensities of the laser radiation. The role of multiple atomic transitions between ground and excited states in atom optics has been investigated. Nonlinear optical prop...