Although undergraduate physics majors are introduced to concepts such as the fluctuation-dissipation theorem in statistical mechanics courses, they are almost never presented with a situation (with the possible exception of Johnson noise) in which useful information is extracted from a noise measurement. The experiment presented here demonstrates how detailed spectroscopic information about an atomic system can be extracted from a noise spectrum. The experiment is essentially a noise-based analog to the popular optical pumping experiment already present in many undergraduate laboratories. In this case, Faraday rotation is used to probe spin fluctuations of a gas of alkali atoms in thermal equilibrium in a small magnetic field. The demonstration will focus on 85Rb and 87Rb, for which the low-field spectrum in a magnetic field is described by the Breit-Rabi formalism. Transitions between Zeeman-split hyperfine levels can be observed as peaks in the noise spectrum of the Faraday rotation signal, which is read out by a fast digitizer card and then Fourier-transformed. The experiment provides an excellent introduction to atomic physics, noise measurements, and signal processing.
<a href="https://advlabs.aapt.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=14313">Nicholas, Nicholas, and Paul Crowell. Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Rb Vapor. July 14, 2014.</a>
N. Nicholas and P. Crowell, Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Rb Vapor (2014), <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14313&DocID=4673>.
Nicholas, N., & Crowell, P. (2014, July 14). Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Rb Vapor. Retrieved December 13, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14313&DocID=4673
Nicholas, Nicholas, and Paul Crowell. Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Rb Vapor. July 14, 2014. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14313&DocID=4673 (accessed 13 December 2024).
Nicholas, Nicholas, and Paul Crowell. Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Rb Vapor. 2014. 14 July 2014. 13 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14313&DocID=4673>.
@misc{
Author = "Nicholas Nicholas and Paul Crowell",
Title = {Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Rb Vapor},
Volume = {2024},
Number = {13 December 2024},
Month = {July 14, 2014},
Year = {2014}
}
%A Nicholas Nicholas %A Paul Crowell %T Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Rb Vapor %D July 14, 2014 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14313&DocID=4673 %O application/pdf
%0 Electronic Source %A Nicholas, Nicholas %A Crowell, Paul %D July 14, 2014 %T Spin Noise Spectroscopy in Rb Vapor %V 2024 %N 13 December 2024 %8 July 14, 2014 %9 application/pdf %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14313&DocID=4673
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