Quantização de Landau e efeitos associados para átomos ultrafrios do tipo tripod na presença de uma campo magnético artificial

Abstract

In this thesis, we propose an experimental setup for the study of Landau quantization and associated effects in a two-dimensional ultracold atomic gas. Gauge fields can emerge in the equation of motion for the optically addressed ultracold atoms. To this end, spatially dependent dark states are necessary for the internal states of the atoms. A tripod level scheme yields two degenerate dark states which can leads to either an Abelian U(1) U(1) gauge field or a non-Abelian SU(2) gauge field. Using a suitable laser configuration, we obtain a uniform U(1) U(1) magnetic field which causes the atoms organize themselves in Landau levels. The strength of the effective magnetic field depends on the relative intensity of the lasers beams at the atomic cloud. We estimate the degeneracy of the energy levels for an atomic gas formed by atoms of 87Rb. In addition, we establish the experimental conditions to reach the lowest Landau level regime. In the zero-temperature limit, we realize the emergence of magnetic oscillations in the atomic energy and its derivative as function of the inverse of the effective magnetic field (de Haas van Alphen effect). The period of the de Haas van Alphen oscillation allow us to determine area of the Fermi circle for the atomic gas via an Onsager-like relation. We also show that detuning the a laser from the two-photon resonance we generate a parabolic scalar potential that laterally confines the atoms. As a consequence, the Landau levels degeneracy is removed, since the energy spectrum depends explicitly on the transverse atomic momentum. We show that the Landau levels presents a reminiscent degeneracy when the boundaries conditions are considered. The residual degeneracy occurs when different energy levels overlap. We map the residual degeneracy points as a function of the effective magnetic field. Finally, we present an experimental scheme for observing the spin Hall effect for ultracold atoms in a tripod configuration.