TY - JOUR
T1 - Observing the onset of effective mass
AU - Chang, Rockson
AU - Potnis, Shreyas
AU - Ramos, Ramon
AU - Zhuang, Chao
AU - Hallaji, Matin
AU - Hayat, Alex
AU - Duque-Gomez, Federico
AU - Sipe, J. E.
AU - Steinberg, Aephraim M.
PY - 2014/5/2
Y1 - 2014/5/2
N2 - The response of a particle in a periodic potential to an applied force is commonly described by an effective mass, which accounts for the detailed interaction between the particle and the surrounding potential. Using a Bose-Einstein condensate of Rb87 atoms initially in the ground band of an optical lattice, we experimentally show that the initial response of a particle to an applied force is in fact characterized by the bare mass. Subsequently, the particle response undergoes rapid oscillations and only over time scales that are long compared to those of the interband dynamics is the effective mass observed to be an appropriate description. Our results elucidate the role of the effective mass on short time scales, which is relevant for example in the interaction of few-cycle laser pulses with dielectric and semiconductor materials.
AB - The response of a particle in a periodic potential to an applied force is commonly described by an effective mass, which accounts for the detailed interaction between the particle and the surrounding potential. Using a Bose-Einstein condensate of Rb87 atoms initially in the ground band of an optical lattice, we experimentally show that the initial response of a particle to an applied force is in fact characterized by the bare mass. Subsequently, the particle response undergoes rapid oscillations and only over time scales that are long compared to those of the interband dynamics is the effective mass observed to be an appropriate description. Our results elucidate the role of the effective mass on short time scales, which is relevant for example in the interaction of few-cycle laser pulses with dielectric and semiconductor materials.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84899853935&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.170404
DO - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.170404
M3 - مقالة
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 112
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
IS - 17
M1 - 170404
ER -