Professor Raithel employs laser-cooling technology to study the quantum dynamics of cold atoms under various interesting conditions. Cold atoms can be trapped in optical lattices, which are periodic light-shift potentials generated by multiple interfering laser beams. In Raithel's laboratory, the research group investigates the tunnel effect in optical lattices and its modification due to geometrical lattice potentials. Their research also includes wave-packet dynamics, decoherence and quantum-classical feedback circuits.

Professor Raithel further studies cold Rydberg atom gases and cold plasmas. A cryogenic atom trap has been constructed, and is used to determine the significance of collision processes between cold Rydberg atoms and other charged or neutral particles in the evolution of these systems. In this experiment, it is also planned to trap cold Rydberg atoms in long-lived states in quasi-static electromagnetic fields and in ponderomotive light-shift potentials. In the future, Rydberg atom trapping may provide a new tool for high-precision spectroscopy, quantum-state preparation and manipulation experiments with Rydberg atoms.

Research also includes an experiment funded through FOCUS, a NSF Physics Frontier Center at the University of Michigan. In this experiment, the electric-dipole interaction and a number of quantum-optical effects are investigated that should occur in arrangements of cold Rydberg atoms. This research is aimed at employing these interactions in quantum information processing.

A new atom trap was constructed to operate at a magnetic field of more than 3 Tesla, suitable to study strongly magnetized Rydberg atoms and plasmas. This field is of interest due to the ubiquity of magnetic fields in astrophysical, terrestrial and man-made plasmas. A strong magnetic field alters the plasma dynamics and changes the nature of any Rydberg atoms contained within the plasma. Specifically, high-m Rydberg states may become populated through recombination or collisions, and may even dominate the Rydberg-atom population. The high-B atom trap is being used to study these issues, as well as other aspects of the interactions of ultracold matter stored in very strong magnetic traps.

Professor Raithel’s efforts include construction of a continuous-wave atom laser based on the magnetic guiding of atoms. Presently, a new atom guide is being constructed that will be long enough for continuous evaporative cooling of magnetically guided columns of ultracold atomic gases. The objective of this research is to provide a continuous, phase- and amplitude-stable Bose-Einstein condensate. This source will be the ideal starting point for the development of atom-interferometric atom and field sensors.

Multipole transitions of Rydberg atoms in modulated ponderomotive potentials, (B. Knuffman and G. Raithel), Phys. Rev. A 75, 053401 (2007).

Level shifts of rubidium Rydberg states due to binary interactions, (A. Reinhard, T. Cubel Liebisch, B. Knuffman, and G. Raithel), Phys. Rev. A 75, 032712 (2007).

Emission of fast atoms from a cold Rydberg gas, (B. Knuffman and G. Raithel), Phys. Rev. A 73, 020704 (2006).

Transition of laser cooling between standard and Raman optical lattices, (R. Zhang, R. E. Sapiro, N. V. Morrow, G. Raithel), Phys. Rev. A 74, 33404 (2006).

Continuous propagation and energy filtering of a cold atomic beam in a long high-gradient magnetic atom guide, (Spencer E. Olson, Rahul R. Mhaskar, and Georg Raithel), Phys. Rev. A 73, 033622 (2006).

Magnetic trapping of long-lived cold Rydberg atoms, (J.-H. Choi, J. R. Guest, A. P. Povilus, E. Hansis, and G. Raithel), Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 243001 (2005).

Atom counting statistics in ensembles of interacting Rydberg atoms, (T. Cubel Liebisch, A. Reinhard, P. R. Berman, and G. Raithel), Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 253002 (2005). and Erratum.

Time dependence and Landau quantization in the ionization of cold, magnetized Ryberg atoms, (J.-H. Choi, J. R. Guest, E. Hansis, A. P. Povilus, and G. Raithel), Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 253005 (2005).

Laser cooling and magnetic trapping at several Tesla, (J. R. Guest, J.-H. Choi, E. Hansis, A. P. Povilus and G. Raithel), Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 073003 (2005).