An introduction to dressed-atom adiabatic potentials for ultracold atoms

摘要

We give a simple introduction to the theoretical treatment of atoms interacting strongly w ith electromagnetic fields in the radiofrequency,microw ave and laser domains. In particular,w e discuss the concept of dressed atoms,w hich considers the combination of the atom and photons as a composite physical system. This pow erful concept has a w ide range of applications in atomic physics and w e give a few examples of its use in the manipulation of ultracold atoms in adiabatic potentials. These examples are selected from experimental w ork conducted by our research team in Oxford but there are numerous other applications and w e outline some future possibilities.