An atom interferometer is a sensitive device that has potential for many useful applications. Atoms are sensitive to electromagnetic fields due to their electric and magnetic moments and their mass allows them to be deflected in a gravitational field, thereby making them attractive for measuring inertial forces. The narrow momentum distribution of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a great asset in realizing portable atom interferometers. An example is a guided-wave atom interferometer that uses a confining potential to guide the motion of the condensate. Despite the promise of guided-wave atom interferometry with BEC, spatial phase and phase diffusion limit the contrast of the interference fringes. The control of these phases is required for successful development of a BEC-based guided-wave atom interferometer. This thesis analyses the guided-wave atom interferometer, where an atomic BEC cloud at the center of a confining potential is split into two clouds that move along different arms of the interferometer. The clouds accumulate relative phase due to the environment, spatially inhomogeneous trapping potential and atom-atom interactions within the condensate. At the end of the interferometric cycle, the clouds are recombined producing a cloud at rest and moving clouds. The number of atoms in the clouds that emerge depends on the relative phase accumulated by the clouds during propagation. This is investigated by deriving an expression for the probability of finding any given number of atoms in the clouds that emerge after recombination. Characteristic features like mean, standard deviation and cross-correlation function of the probability density distribution are calculated and the contrast of the interference fringes is optimized. This thesis found that optimum contrast is achieved through the control of total population of atoms in the condensate, trap frequencies, s-wave scattering length, and the duration of the interferometric cycle.

The properties of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential are investigated through a two-mode analysis. An analytic solution for the semiclassical tunnelling and self-trapping dynamics is compared with numerical simulations of the quantum dynamics, which exhibit collapses and revivals for a closed system. A continuous non-destructive measurement technique to monitor the Josephson tunnelling oscillations is presented, in which the condensate in one well dispersively shifts the phase of a coherent probe beam in proportion to atom-number. The evolution of the resulting homodyne photocurrent and Bloch Q distributions shows that oscillations develop even when the initial state possesses phase symmetry. The conditional dynamics of the condensate which result from measurement back-action also appear in certain semiclassical formulations. The homodyne measurement technique is incorporated into a proposed weak-force detector. A maximally entangled initial state, which is the ground state for a double condensate with strong attractive atomic interactions, enables a high-precision measurement. The dynamics of quantum many-body multimode systems of interacting bosons are simulated using phase-space methods. The use of the Wigner technique predicts novel noise effects in fibre solitons. The positive-P representation is used to simulate the formation of mesoscopic Bose-Einstein condensates via evaporative cooling in three dimensional atom traps. The results indicate highly non-classical behaviour near the critical point, and provide evidence for the spontaneous formation of vortices. Comparisons with corresponding mean-field calculations reveal large differences between the semiclassical and fully quantum results. Finally, the possibility of future progress with alternative phase-space methods is considered.

La réalisation de condensats de Bose-Einstein et de gaz de Fermi dégénérés ont déclenché d'énormes progrès dans les méthodes théoriques ainsi que dans la mise en place de nouvelles techniques expérimentales. Parmi celles-ci, de fascinantes possibilités viennent de l'implémentation de réseaux optiques : potentiels périodiques pour atomes neutres créés à travers l'interférence de rayons laser. Un gaz dégénéré dans un réseau optique peut être forcé dans des pièges fortement anisotropes, jusqu'à réduire la dimensionnalité du système physique. Du point de vue fondamental, le comportement des ondes de matière en dimensions réduites éclaircit les propriétés intrinsèques des interactions entre particules. En outre, ces systèmes à dimensionnalité réduite peuvent être manipulés afin de créer des simulateurs quantiques de la matière condensée, comme par exemple des réseaux à deux dimensions, dans un environnement pur et contrôlable. Motivés par les passionnantes perspectives de ce domaine, on a consacré cette Thèse à l'étude théorique de deux systèmes dans lesquels une onde de matière se propage en dimensions réduites. L'interaction dipôle-dipôle, à longue portée et anisotrope, affecte fortement le comportement des gaz quantiques. Les progrès expérimentaux dans ce domaine florissant permettront bientôt de piéger dans des réseaux optiques un gaz dégénéré de dipôles. Dans la première partie de cette thèse, on considère l'apparition d'une seule résonance dipolaire dans l'interaction entre deux particules pour différents systèmes quasi-unidimensionnels. On propose une approche à deux canaux qui décrit cette résonance dans un piège harmonique fortement allongé “en forme de cigare”, qui représente l'approximation d'un site d'un réseau optique quasi-unidimensionnel. A` ce stade, on développe un nouveau modèle étendu de Bose-Hubbard atome-dimère, qui est valable pour des bosons dipolaires dans un réseau optique quasi-unidimensionnel. On étudie donc le diagramme de phase du modèle pour T =0 par la diagonalisation exacte de systèmes de petite taille, en soulignant les effets de la résonance dipolaire sur la physique à plusieurs corps dans le réseau. Dans la seconde partie de la thèse, on propose un modèle pour réaliser des simulateurs quantiques de cristaux bidimensionnels avec des atomes froids, basé sur le piégeage indépendant de deux espèces atomiques. La première constitue une onde de matière bidimensionnelle qui interagit exclusivement avec les atomes de la seconde espèce, piégés aux nœuds d'un réseau optique bidimensionnel. En introduisant une approche théorique générale, on examine les propriétés de transport de l'onde de matière. On propose des exemples d'application pour réseaux soit de Bravais (carré, triangulaire), soit de non-Bravais (graphène, kagomé), en étudiant soit des systèmes périodiques idéaux, soit des systèmes de taille expérimentale et désordonnés. Les caractéristiques d'un réseau atomique artificiel dépendent de l'intensité de l'interaction entre les deux espèces, qu'on montre être largement réglable grâce à des résonances à dimensionnalité mixte de type 0D-2D. / The experimental achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation and Fermi degeneracy with ultracold gases boosted tremendous progresses both in theoretical methods and in the development of new experimental tools. Among them, intriguing possibilities have been opened by the implementation of optical lattices: periodic potentials for neutral atoms created by interfering laser beams. Degenerate gases in optical lattices can be forced in highly anisotropic traps, reducing the effective dimensionality of the system. From a fundamental point of view, the behavior of matter waves in reduced dimensions sheds light on the intimate properties of interparticle interactions. Furthermore, such reduced-dimensional systems can be engineered to quantum-simulate fascinating solid state systems, like bidimensional crystals, in a clean and controllable environment. Motivated by the exciting perspectives of this field, we devote this Thesis to the theoretical study of two systems where matter waves propagate in reduced dimensions.The long-range and anisotropic character of the dipole-dipole interaction critically affects the behavior of dipolar quantum gases. The continuous experimental progresses in this flourishing field might lead very soon to the creation of degenerate dipolar gases in optical potentials. In the first part of this Thesis, we investigate the emergence of a single dipolar-induced resonance in the two-body scattering process in quasi-one dimensional geometries. We develop a two-channel approach to describe such a resonance in a highly elongated cigar-shaped harmonic trap, which approximates the single site of a quasi-one- dimensional optical lattice. At this stage, we develop a novel atom-dimer extended Bose- Hubbard model for dipolar bosons in this quasi-one-dimensional optical lattice. Hence we investigate the T=0 phase diagram of the model by exact diagonalization of a small- sized system, highlighting the effects of the dipolar-induced resonance on the many-body behavior in the lattice.In the second part of the Thesis, we present a general scheme to realize cold-atom quantum simulators of bidimensional atomic crystals, based on the possibility to independently trap two different atomic species. The first one constitutes a two-dimensional matter wave which interacts only with the atoms of the second species, deeply trapped around the nodes of a two-dimensional optical lattice. By introducing a general analytic approach, we investigate the matter-wave transport properties. We propose some illustrative appli- cations to both Bravais (square, triangular) and non-Bravais (graphene, kagomé) lattices, studying both ideal periodic systems and experimental-sized, eventually disordered, ones. The features of the artificial atomic crystal critically depend on the two-body interspecies interaction strength, which is shown to be widely tunable via 0D-2D mixed-dimensional resonances.

Not only is Quantum Mechanics (QM) conceptually rich, it is also a theory that physics students have found abstract and technically formidable. Nevertheless, compared to other classical topics of physics, university students’ understanding of QM has received minimal attention in the physics education literature. The principal purpose of this study was to characterize the variation in the ways that undergraduate physics students depict the basic concepts of QM and to extrapolate the results to scaffold possible changes to instructional practices at the university that provided the context for the study. In so doing, an adaptation of a developmental phenomenographic perspective was chosen. Empirically, the study was approached through in-depth interviews with 35 physics students from two Ethiopian governmental universities after they had been exposed to the traditional QM course for one-third of a semester. Interview responses were analyzed using phenomenographic approach where a picture of students’ depictions was established for each quantum concept by expounding the given responses. For each basic quantum concept addressed, the structure of the description categories was separately constructed, and overall, it was found that naive, quasi-classical ontology and/or variants of classical ways of visualization are dominant in students’ responses. For example, it was found that students’ depictions of the photon concept could be described with three distinct categories of description, which are (a) classical intuitive description, (b) mixed model description and (c) quasi-quantum model description. Similarly, the findings revealed that it is possible to establish three qualitatively different categories of description to picture students’ depictions of matter waves, namely, (a) classical and trajectory-based description, (b) an intricate blend of classical and quantum description and (c) incipient quantum model description. Likewise, it was found that students’ depictions of uncertainty principle can be described as: (a) uncertainty as classical ignorance, (b) uncertainty as measurement disturbance and (c) uncertainty as a quasi-quantum principle. With regard to learning QM, the categories of description made clear several issues: most students did not have enough knowledge to depict the basic concepts of QM properly; they were influenced by the perspective of classical physics and their perceptions in making explanations about QM; and they also applied mixed ideas, one based on their classical model and the other from newly introduced QM. These results are also supported by the findings of previous studies in similar domains. Findings from the study were used to guide the design of multiple representations-based instructions and interactive learning tutorials on the conceptual aspects of QM that has been shown to address specific difficulties identified in the study. Theoretical and practical implications of the study, as well as potential future considerations are drawn. / Mathematics, Science and Technology Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

Not only is Quantum Mechanics (QM) conceptually rich, it is also a theory that physics students have found abstract and technically formidable. Nevertheless, compared to other classical topics of physics, university students’ understanding of QM has received minimal attention in the physics education literature. The principal purpose of this study was to characterize the variation in the ways that undergraduate physics students depict the basic concepts of QM and to extrapolate the results to scaffold possible changes to instructional practices at the university that provided the context for the study. In so doing, an adaptation of a developmental phenomenographic perspective was chosen. Empirically, the study was approached through in-depth interviews with 35 physics students from two Ethiopian governmental universities after they had been exposed to the traditional QM course for one-third of a semester. Interview responses were analyzed using phenomenographic approach where a picture of students’ depictions was established for each quantum concept by expounding the given responses. For each basic quantum concept addressed, the structure of the description categories was separately constructed, and overall, it was found that naive, quasi-classical ontology and/or variants of classical ways of visualization are dominant in students’ responses. For example, it was found that students’ depictions of the photon concept could be described with three distinct categories of description, which are (a) classical intuitive description, (b) mixed model description and (c) quasi-quantum model description. Similarly, the findings revealed that it is possible to establish three qualitatively different categories of description to picture students’ depictions of matter waves, namely, (a) classical and trajectory-based description, (b) an intricate blend of classical and quantum description and (c) incipient quantum model description. Likewise, it was found that students’ depictions of uncertainty principle can be described as: (a) uncertainty as classical ignorance, (b) uncertainty as measurement disturbance and (c) uncertainty as a quasi-quantum principle. With regard to learning QM, the categories of description made clear several issues: most students did not have enough knowledge to depict the basic concepts of QM properly; they were influenced by the perspective of classical physics and their perceptions in making explanations about QM; and they also applied mixed ideas, one based on their classical model and the other from newly introduced QM. These results are also supported by the findings of previous studies in similar domains. Findings from the study were used to guide the design of multiple representations-based instructions and interactive learning tutorials on the conceptual aspects of QM that has been shown to address specific difficulties identified in the study. Theoretical and practical implications of the study, as well as potential future considerations are drawn. / Mathematics, Science and Technology Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)