Geometric phase of an atom inside an adiabatic radio frequency potential

Abstract

We investigate the geometric phase of an atom inside an adiabatic radio frequency (rf) potential created from a static magnetic field (B-field) and a time dependent rf field. The spatial motion of the atomic center of mass is shown to give rise to a geometric phase, or Berry's phase, to the adiabatically evolving atomic hyperfine spin along the local B-field. This phase is found to depend on both the static B-field along the semi-classical trajectory of the atomic center of mass and an ``effective magnetic field'' of the total B-field, including the oscillating rf field. Specific calculations are provided for several recent atom interferometry experiments and proposals utilizing adiabatic rf potentials.