Coupled dynamics of atoms and radiation pressure driven interferometers

Abstract

We consider the motion of the end mirror of a cavity in whose standing wave mode pattern atoms are trapped. The atoms and the light field strongly couple to each other because the atoms form a distributed Bragg mirror with a reflectivity that can be fairly high. We analyze how the dipole potential in which the atoms move is modified due to this backaction of the atoms. We show that the position of the atoms can become bistable. These results are of a more general nature and can be applied to any situation where atoms are trapped in an optical lattice inside a cavity and where the backaction of the atoms on the light field cannot be neglected. We analyze the dynamics of the coupled system in the adiabatic limit where the light field adjusts to the position of the atoms and the light field instantaneously and where the atoms move much faster than the mirror. We calculate the side band spectrum of the light transmitted through the cavity and show that these spectra can be used to detect the coupled motion of the atoms and the mirror.