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Phys. Rev. A 76, 052509 (2007) [11 pages]

Magic wavelengths for the np-ns transitions in alkali-metal atoms

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Bindiya Arora and M. S. Safronova
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716-2593, USA

Charles W. Clark
Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8410, USA

Received 2 September 2007; published 15 November 2007

Extensive calculations of the electric-dipole matrix elements in alkali-metal atoms are conducted using the relativistic all-order method. This approach is a linearized version of the coupled-cluster method, which sums infinite sets of many-body perturbation theory terms. All allowed transitions between the lowest ns, np1∕2, np3∕2 states and a large number of excited states are considered in these calculations and their accuracy is evaluated. The resulting electric-dipole matrix elements are used for the high-precision calculation of frequency-dependent polarizabilities of the excited states of alkali-metal atoms. We find “magic” wavelengths in alkali-metal atoms for which the ns and np1∕2 and np3∕2 atomic levels have the same ac Stark shifts, which facilitates state-insensitive optical cooling and trapping.

Published by the American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.76.052509
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.76.052509
PACS:
32.10.Dk, 32.80.Pj, 31.15.Dv, 32.70.Jz