DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS DISSERTATION DEFENSE: Hunter Swan

Public zoom link:   https://stanford.zoom.us/j/94710708507?pwd=XmHa05WyKBVy8f1VPJTOgxkk6rhqLq.1

Password: Email physicstudentservices [at] stanford.edu (physicstudentservices[at]stanford[dot]edu)

Title:   

The Shape of Light, the Shape of Atoms, and the Shape of Spacetime

Abstract:

 I will discuss several problems broadly related to spatial structure of light, atoms, and spacetime in the context of atom interferometry. Firstly, I will show how to compute exact atom interferometer trajectories in flat spacetime. This leads to the first non-perturbative expressions for relativistic atom interferometer phase shifts. Secondly, I will show that in curved spacetime the phase shear of an atom interferometer is directly proportional to the integrated spacetime sectional curvature over the surface bounded by the interferometer arms. Next I will discuss a new method for holographic laser beam shaping based on the mathematical theory of optimal transport, which produces spatial light modulator phases that significantly improve the fidelity of the output beam compared to previous techniques. I will also describe methods based on phase diversity imaging for in-situ calibration of input laser beam phase and amplitude in such a setup. Then I will describe how these holographic methods can be adapted to shaping and imaging atomic wavefunctions using an optical dipole trap. Finally, time permitting, I will discuss two small results on design of reimaging optics for a dipole trap and on discrete symmetries in electromagnetism.