ABSTRACT: I will describe the high-precision calculations of the static and frequency-dependent polarizabilities in alkali-metal atoms, Na-like ions, and Ba+. The resulting polarizability values are used for a variety of applications from reducing the decoherence in quantum logic gates to the discovery of the inconsistency in the experimental studies of Cs. Our alkali-metal atom polarizability calculations can be used to predict the oscillation frequencies of optically-trapped atoms, and particularly the ratios of frequencies of different species held in the same trap. We identify wavelengths at which two different alkali atoms have the same oscillation frequency. In Cs, we use our calculations to demonstrate that the experimental 5d lifetime data are inconsistent with the 6s-6p experimental Stark shift data. Our calculation of the Ba+ polarizabilities is motivated by the possibility to study the parity nonconservation (PNC) with a single trapped ion and by recent measurements of the Ba+ dipole and quadrupole polarizabilities and light shift ratios. The study of the PNC in heavy atoms provides atomic-physics tests of the Standard Model and allows to determine nuclear anapole moments. I will also report the comparison of our preliminary results for the d-state polarizabilities in Cs with recent experiment.

Contact: Luis Orozco