O presente trabalho procura investigar alguns dos processos colisionais de átomos de Rydberg ultrafrios. Utilizando uma armadilha magneto-óptica (MOT), foi possível aprisionar átomos de 85Rb, um elemento alcalino metálico, numa região da ordem de lmn a temperaturas da ordem de poucas centenas de ?K, regime chamado de \"ultrafrio\" na literatura. Os átomos de 85Rb são então excitados para estados de alto número quântico principal, também chamados de estados de Rydberg, através de um laser pulsado. Nesses estados, os átomos apresentam propriedades exageradas devido ao tamanho da órbita do elétron de valência, sendo uma delas os potenciais de longo-alcance. Em nossos experimentos, após a excitação, são detectados átomos em estados vizinhos ao originalmente excitado, evidenciando a existência de transições. Como esses estados são muito próximos em energia, a presença de potenciais de longo alcance pode fazer a energia de um par de átomos de Rydberg no seu estado inicial ficar ressonante com a energia do mesmo par numa combinação de outros estados, tornando então possível transições para esses estados. Nosso estudo visa quantificar de certa forma essas observações, assim como estimar a importância do movimento desses átomos nas transições observadas. / This dissertation seeks to address some of the characteristics of collisional processes in ultracold Rydberg atoms. With a Maqneto-Optical Trap (MOT), we trapped a sample of 85Rb, an alkaline metal element, in a region of about lmm at a temperature of a few hundreds of ?K, known in the literature as the \"ultracold\" regime. The 85Rb atoms are then excited to high principal quantum number states, also known as Rydberg states, with a pulsed laser. In these states, the atoms present exaggerated properties due to the large valence electron orbit, such as long-range potentials in our experiments, after excitation, we have detected atoms in neighboring states to the originally excited state, an evidence of atomic transitions. Since these states have similar energy, the presence of long-range potentials can make the energy of a pair of atoms in the initial state be resonant with the energy of the same pair in a combination of different states, making it possible to have transitions to these nearby states. Our work tries to quantify these observations, as well as to gauge the role of atomic movement in these transitions.

Neste dissertação apresentamos um protocolo para simular, no contexto das armadilhas iônicas, o Zitterbewegung não usual, que é o análogo, na física do semicondutores, ao movimento de tremulação de uma partícula relativística. O Zitterbewegung não usual permite trajetórias cicloidais na ausência dos campos magnéticos. Além do Zitterbewegung, mostramos como gerar figuras de Lissajou para o movimento vibracional bidimensional do íon armadilhado. Ademais, o protocolo proposto nesta tese, permite gerar interações spin-órbita dos tipos Rashba e Dresselhaus, abrindo a possibilidade de simular, no âmbito dos íons armadilhados, os acoplamentos spin-órbita dos tipos Rashba e Dresselhaus, Zitterbewegung não usual e as curvas de Lissajou. Além disso, nesta tese apresentamos protocolo para produzir engenharia de interações confinadas aos subespaços do espaço de Fock. Mostramos como engenheirar os hamitonianos dos tipos Jaynes-Cumming e anti-Jaynes-Cumming confinadados aos subespaços de Fock delimitados superiormente ou inferiormente e também as interações Jaynes-Cumming e anti-Jaynes-Cumming confinados a uma fatia do espaço Fock. Esses hamitonias delimitados superiormente (inferiormente) atuam sobre os subespaço de Fock de |0&rang; a |M&rang; (|N&rang; &alpha;&infin;), enquanto aqueles confinados a uma fatia do espaço de Fock atuam sobre os subespaço de Fock de |M&rang; a |N&rang; com M < N. Enquanto que, as interações dos tipo Jaynes-Cumming ou anti-Jaynes-Cumming demilitadas superiormente conduzem qualquer estado inicial para o estado de Fock de quase-equilíbrio |N&rang; e as interações confinadas a uma fatia do espaço de Fock conduz qualquer estado inicial a superporsição de estados de Fock de equilíbrio, que estão confinados no subespaço {|N&rang; , |N + 1&rang;}. / In this dissertation we present a protocol to simulate, with a single two-leve trapped ion, the unusual zitterbewegung: the semiconductor analog of the relativistic trembling motion of eletron, allowing cycloidal trajectories in the absence of magnetic fields. Beyon zitterbewegung, we show how to generate Lissajou curves from the vibrational motion of an ion in two dimensional trap. Morever our protocol enables us to engineerthe Rashbaand the Dresselhaus-type spin-orbit interatiction, opening the possibility to simulate with a trapped ion, spin-orbit effects other than the unusual zitterbewegung and Lissajou curves. Moreover, in this work we present a protocol to engineer interactions confined to subspaces of the Fock space: we show how to engineer upper-, lower-bounded and sliced Jaynes-Cummings (JC) and anti-Jaynes-Cummings (AJC) Hamiltonians. The upperbounded (lower-bounded) interaction acting upon Fock subspaces ranging from |0&rang; to |M&rang; (|N&rang; to &infin;), and the sliced one confined to Fock subspace ranging from |M&rang; to |N&rang;, whatever M < N. Whereas the upper-bounded JC or AJC interactions is shown to drive any initial state to an equilibrium Fock states |N&rang;, the sliced one is shown to produce equilibrium superpositions of Fock states confined to the sliced subspaces {|N&rang; , |N + 1&rang;}.

As ligações entre a termodinâmica e a mecânica quântica mostram-se interessantes tópicos de pesquisa desde os anos 50 e tem atraído cada vez mais atenção nos últimos anos, tanto por suas possíveis aplicações tecnológicas, quanto pelo aspecto teórico - como, por exemplo, as relações de sistemas quânticos com a segunda lei da termodinâmica. Para sistemas quânticos mesoscópicos, restritos apenas a um número relativamente pequeno de estados energéticos, torna-se necessária uma generalização da termodinâmica usual. Neste trabalho mostramos como construir uma máquina de Stirling no contexto de íons aprisionados. Para isso, faz-se necessária a engenharia de frequências dependentes do tempo do modo vibracional do íon, além da engenharia de reservatórios térmicos com temperaturas controladas. Após a construção da máquina de Stirling e do cálculo do trabalho e da eficiência associados apresentamos um protocolo para a medida da função de distribuição do trabalho que recorre às medidas dos níveis de energia eletrônicos do íon para, a partir dessas, extrair-se informação sobre o seu estado vibracional. / The connections between quantum mechanics and thermodynamics have been an interesting research topic since the 1950´s and began attracting more and more attention recently, not only for the technological applications, but also from a theoretical point of view - as, for instance, when dealing with the relations between quantum systems and the second law of thermodynamics. For mesoscopic (or even macroscopic) quantum systems, restricted to relatively few energy states, a generalization of the usual thermodynamics becomes necessary. In the present work we show how to engeneer a Stirling engine in an ionic trap. To achieve this we have to engeneer an ionic vibrational mode with a time dependent frequency, and simutaneously engeneer a thermal reservoir with controled temperatures. After the construction of the Stirling machine and the calculation of the associated work and efficiency, we show a protocol that allows the measurement of the work distribution function which call on the measurement of the electronic energy levels of the ion and, from them, extract information about the vibrational state of the trap.

Neste dissertação apresentamos um protocolo para simular, no contexto das armadilhas iônicas, o Zitterbewegung não usual, que é o análogo, na física do semicondutores, ao movimento de tremulação de uma partícula relativística. O Zitterbewegung não usual permite trajetórias cicloidais na ausência dos campos magnéticos. Além do Zitterbewegung, mostramos como gerar figuras de Lissajou para o movimento vibracional bidimensional do íon armadilhado. Ademais, o protocolo proposto nesta tese, permite gerar interações spin-órbita dos tipos Rashba e Dresselhaus, abrindo a possibilidade de simular, no âmbito dos íons armadilhados, os acoplamentos spin-órbita dos tipos Rashba e Dresselhaus, Zitterbewegung não usual e as curvas de Lissajou. Além disso, nesta tese apresentamos protocolo para produzir engenharia de interações confinadas aos subespaços do espaço de Fock. Mostramos como engenheirar os hamitonianos dos tipos Jaynes-Cumming e anti-Jaynes-Cumming confinadados aos subespaços de Fock delimitados superiormente ou inferiormente e também as interações Jaynes-Cumming e anti-Jaynes-Cumming confinados a uma fatia do espaço Fock. Esses hamitonias delimitados superiormente (inferiormente) atuam sobre os subespaço de Fock de |0&rang; a |M&rang; (|N&rang; &alpha;&infin;), enquanto aqueles confinados a uma fatia do espaço de Fock atuam sobre os subespaço de Fock de |M&rang; a |N&rang; com M < N. Enquanto que, as interações dos tipo Jaynes-Cumming ou anti-Jaynes-Cumming demilitadas superiormente conduzem qualquer estado inicial para o estado de Fock de quase-equilíbrio |N&rang; e as interações confinadas a uma fatia do espaço de Fock conduz qualquer estado inicial a superporsição de estados de Fock de equilíbrio, que estão confinados no subespaço {|N&rang; , |N + 1&rang;}. / In this dissertation we present a protocol to simulate, with a single two-leve trapped ion, the unusual zitterbewegung: the semiconductor analog of the relativistic trembling motion of eletron, allowing cycloidal trajectories in the absence of magnetic fields. Beyon zitterbewegung, we show how to generate Lissajou curves from the vibrational motion of an ion in two dimensional trap. Morever our protocol enables us to engineerthe Rashbaand the Dresselhaus-type spin-orbit interatiction, opening the possibility to simulate with a trapped ion, spin-orbit effects other than the unusual zitterbewegung and Lissajou curves. Moreover, in this work we present a protocol to engineer interactions confined to subspaces of the Fock space: we show how to engineer upper-, lower-bounded and sliced Jaynes-Cummings (JC) and anti-Jaynes-Cummings (AJC) Hamiltonians. The upperbounded (lower-bounded) interaction acting upon Fock subspaces ranging from |0&rang; to |M&rang; (|N&rang; to &infin;), and the sliced one confined to Fock subspace ranging from |M&rang; to |N&rang;, whatever M < N. Whereas the upper-bounded JC or AJC interactions is shown to drive any initial state to an equilibrium Fock states |N&rang;, the sliced one is shown to produce equilibrium superpositions of Fock states confined to the sliced subspaces {|N&rang; , |N + 1&rang;}.

The complexity of biological matrices makes the detection and quantification of compounds of interest challenging. For successful targeted or untargeted identification of compounds within a biological environment, the use of complementary separation techniques is routinely required; in many situations, a single analytical technique is not sufficient. In the present dissertation, a multidimensional analytical technique was developed and evaluated, a combination of new sample preparation/extraction protocols, liquid chromatography, trapped ion mobility and mass spectrometry (e.g., LC-TIMS-MS and LC-TIMS-MS/MS). The performance of these techniques was evaluated for the detection of polybrominated diphenyl ethers metabolites, polychlorinated biphenyls metabolites in human plasma, opioid metabolites in human urine, and lipids in Dictyostelium discoideum cells. The new workflows and methods described in the body of this dissertation allows for rapid, selective, sensitive and high-resolution detection of biomarkers in biological matrices with increased confidence, sensitivity and shorter sample preparation and analysis time.

PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment designed to study the charged component of the cosmic radiation of galactic, solar and trapped nature. The main scientific objective is the study of the antimatter component of cosmic rays over a wide range of energies (antiprotons: 80 MeV–190 GeV, positrons: 50 MeV–270 GeV). PAMELA is also searching for antinuclei with a precision ~10^−7 in anti-He/He measurements. PAMELA is mounted on the Resurs DK1 satellite that was launched on June 15th 2006 from the Baikonur cosmodrome and is now on a semipolar (69.9°) elliptical (350 × 600 km) orbit. The experiment has been acquiring data since July 11th 2006 and has a foreseen lifetime of at least 3 years. The PAMELA apparatus consists of a permanent magnet silicon spectrometer, an electromagnetic imaging calorimeter, a time of flight system, a scintillator-based anticoincidence (AC) system, a tail catcher scintillator and a neutron detector. The AC system can be used to reject particles not cleanly entering the PAMELA acceptance. Tests of the PAMELA instrument in its final flight configuration involved long duration acquisition runs with cosmic particles (mainly muons) on ground. A study of the functionality of the AC system during these runs is presented here with a set of selected muons. Studies of activity in the AC detectors as function of the rigidity of the muons and in correlation with the activity in the spectrometer and in the calorimeter are presented. A study of the AC system functionality during in-flight operations provides a map of the particle flux in orbit, and shows the anisotropy in the arrival direction of trapped particles in the Van Allen radiation belts. The singles rates indicate that the AC system saturates in the South Atlantic anomaly (SAA). Information from the AC system in the SAA is therefore not reliable for physics analysis. The timing and multiplicity of AC activity correlated to particle triggers has been studied. A dependence on orbital position was observed. An LED (Light Emitting Diode) based monitoring system was designed to determine the in-orbit behaviour of the AC system independently of the radiation environment and to compare it to the pre-launch behaviour. The LED system shows that the properties of the AC system are stable during flight and that no significant changes in performance occurred as a result of the launch. / QC 20100811

Cold trapped ions have many applications in quantum information science and precision metrology. In this thesis, we present progress toward two objectives involving ions confined to linear RF traps: the strong coupling of Ba+ ions with a high finesse optical cavity, and the observation of an optical nuclear transition in 229Th3+. In pursuit of the first objective, a novel high-temperture vapor cell for the spectroscopy of neutral barium was constructed. Using this vapor cell, a new technique for isotope-selective photoionization loading of Ba+ in an ion trap was developed. In pursuit of the second objective, techniques ultimately to be used in creating, trapping, and observing 229Th3+ are studied using 232Th3+. Ion traps are loaded with 232Th3+ via laser ablation of thorium targets. 232Th3+ is detected optically using laser-induced fluorescence and electronically using a channel electron multiplier. A technique for creating ablation targets from trace quantities of thorium nitrate is presented. The primary loss mechanisms of Th3+, charge exchange and chemical reactions, are studied.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 208-215).

Universal quantum computation requires precision control of the dynamics of qubits. Frequently accurate quantum control is impeded by systematic drifts and other errors. Compensating composite pulse sequences are a resource efficient technique for quantum error reduction. This work describes compensating sequences for ion-trap quantum computers. We introduce a Lie-algebraic framework which unifies all known fully-compensating sequences and admits a novel geometric interpretation where sequences are treated as vector paths on a dynamical Lie algebra. Using these techniques, we construct new narrowband sequences with improved error correction and reduced time costs. We use these sequences to achieve laser addressing of single trapped 40Ca+ ions, even if neighboring ions experience significant field intensity. We also use broadband sequences to achieve robust control of 171Yb+ ions even with inhomogeneous microwave fields. Further, we generalize compensating sequences to correct certain multi-qubit interactions. We show that multi-qubit gates may be corrected to arbitrary accuracy if there exists either two non-commuting controls with correlated errors or one error-free control. A practical ion-trap quantum computer must be extendible to many trapped ions. One solution is to employ microfabricated surface-electrode traps, which are well-suited for scalable designs and integrated systems. We describe two novel surface-electrode traps, one with on-chip microwave waveguides for hyperfine 171Yb+ qubit manipulations, and a second trap with an integrated high numerical aperture spherical micromirror for enhanced fluorescence collection.