Coherent backscattering effect: the case of ultracold matter waves

Nicolás Cherroret

University of Freiburg

In this talk, I will briefly review recent developments concerning the coherent backscattering (CBS) effect, a well-known precursor of Anderson localization in disordered systems. I will then focus on the particular and important case of CBS of ultracold matter waves in random (optical) potentials, and explain how this effect manifests itself in the momentum distribution of the matter wave. A detailed theoretical analysis of this distribution shows that the  CBS effect can be used to prove that transport occurs in the phase-coherent regime, and that measuring its time dependence permits monitoring the transition from classical diffusion to Anderson localization.

Date: Thursday 6 de Octubre, 2011

Time: 14:30 h

Place: Seminar room. Dept. Física Teórica I, Planta 3ª, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas UCM