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Mötesplats Rydberg: M. Gisselbrecht and C. Verdozzi "Zeno-taming the Auger decay"

Europe/Stockholm
Rydbergsalen (Fysiska institutionen-Physics Department)

Rydbergsalen

Fysiska institutionen-Physics Department

Description

We suggest on theoretical grounds the possibility of a general measurement protocol that hinders the natural dynamics of atomic processes via the quantum Zeno effect. Our approach is demonstrated using the paradigmatic Auger decay, where we show that the Auger lifetime can be prolonged. We apply the protocol to atomic and ionized Li, and show that the increase of the Auger lifetime due to the quantum Zeno effect is measurable with current experimental capabilities. Our work thus opens up for studies of ultrafast atomic processes on artificially longer timescales, with applications in atto-second spectroscopy, quantum information, and metrology. Glimpses of ongoing and plans of future work are given.