The Basics of a Magneto-Optical Trap

A former physics professor and active physics scholar, Andrew Kortyna has written dozens of peer-reviewed research papers in a variety of physics fields. As a fellow at Colby College at Waterville, Maine, Andrew Kortyna designed, built, and performed experiments using a magneto-optical trap. I is currently using a magneto-optical trap to design a compact atomic clock at ColdQuanta, Inc in Boulder, CO.

A magneto-optical trap, or MOT, is a laser-based device that allows scientists to conduct experiments on ultra-cold atoms. Ultra-cold atoms, in this context, refers to atoms at one millikelvin or below. At these temperatures, atoms are significantly slowed and easier to probe. Also, quantum mechanical effects begin to predominate.

A MOT consists of three pairs of counter-propagating laser beams, with each pair oriented perpendicular to the other two. The frequency of each laser beam is adjusted just below a transition resonance for the atoms being trapped. A weak, spatially varying magnetic field shifts the atoms into resonance with the six laser beams. and this arrangement results in a force that traps atoms in a small region of space at ultra-cold temperatures

The trap makes it easy to do innovative cold atom experiments. Its development led to the invention of other forms of atomic cooling, and eventually paved the way for new states of matters such as Bose-Einstein condensation. These atom traps are also the basis for international time standards, including the official United States time which is kept at the National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratory in Boulder, CO.

Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics

A graduate of Wesleyan University with a PhD in physics, Andrew Kortyna is a former assistant professor of physics at Lafayette College. Andrew Kortyna has conducted research on the scattering of ultralow-energy electrons with molecules using laser-based techniques. He is also experienced in using computational packages, such as the Gaussian ab initio molecular structure computational package, to perform molecular analysis.

Molecular dynamics have helped scientists gain insight into how molecules behave in reactions at a microscopic level. Over time, scientists have devised a number of techniques to help study molecular dynamics in reactions. Recently, a technique known as ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) was developed. This technique provides a realistic real-time simulation of complex molecular systems and has been used by many molecular physicists and chemists to study molecules.

Ab initio molecular dynamics differs from traditional molecular dynamics techniques in a variety of ways. Unlike traditional molecular dynamics that rely on classical Newtonian dynamics, ab initio molecular dynamics is based on the Schrodinger equation. This makes it more precise when handling and evaluating quantum effects. In addition, ab initio molecular dynamics uses more practical physical potentials for studying quantum effects. Its traditional counterpart uses less empirical potentials to approximate quantum effects, which is less precise.

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