🔬 Category

physics.atom-ph

725 papers

The subatomic world is a realm where matter behaves in ways that defy our everyday intuition, and this category explores the fundamental building blocks of our universe. From the intricate dance of quarks inside a proton to the strange properties of electrons, these studies reveal the deep rules that govern everything from the smallest particles to the largest stars.

At Gist.Science, we track every new preprint in this field as it appears on arXiv, ensuring you stay ahead of the curve. For each discovery, we provide both a clear, plain-language explanation of the core ideas and a detailed technical summary for those who want to dive deeper into the mathematics and methodology.

Below are the latest papers in Atom-Ph, offering fresh insights into the structure and behavior of the atomic scale.

🔬 atomic physics

Experimental realization of a rotating radio-frequency ion trap for precision metrology

This paper reports the experimental realization of a rotating radio-frequency (rrf) ion trap, demonstrating that its ability to average out angular potential variations in non-ideal geometries provides more uniform confinement and reduced ion loss compared to traditional linear traps, thereby offering significant advantages for precision metrology applications like electron electric dipole moment measurements.

Sun Yool Park, Anzhou Wang, Kia Boon Ng, Patricia Hector Hernandez, Addison Hartman, Tuan Anh Nguyen, Rohan Kompella, Mi (…)2026-07-24
🔬 atomic physics

Bound state solutions with a linear combination of Yukawa plus four-parameter diatomic potentials using path integral approach: Thermodynamic properties

This paper utilizes the path integral formalism and an approximation for the centrifugal term to derive the energy spectrum and wave functions for a linear combination of Yukawa and four-parameter diatomic potentials, subsequently employing these results to calculate the system's partition function and thermodynamic properties.

Mohamed Améziane Sadoun, Redouane Zamoum, Abdellah Touati2026-07-22
🔬 atomic physics

Super-molasses returns: All optical near-resonance laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms from background vapor

This paper introduces a robust, all-optical laser trap that uses collimated beams to capture and cool over one million neutral rubidium atoms from background vapor to densities and temperatures comparable to magneto-optical traps, but without requiring any magnetic fields.

Matt Himsworth, Chester Camm, Max Carey, Jack Saywell, Jonathan Woods, Vilius Atkočius, Florence Concepcion, Konstantino (…)2026-07-22
🔬 atomic physics

Motional Kerr-Cat States of an Atom in an Optical Tweezer

This paper demonstrates the generation and control of Schrödinger cat states in the quantized motion of a single neutral atom trapped in an optical tweezer by exploiting the system's intrinsic self-Kerr nonlinearity, offering a robust, spin-independent framework for bosonic-state engineering and quantum error correction.

Steven K. Pampel, Gur Lubin, Dawson P. Hewatt, Conall McCabe, Jaeyong Hwang, Sean R. Muleady, Tianrui Xu, Ana Maria Rey (…)2026-07-22
🔬 atomic physics

Hybrid qubit-oscillator module from motional states of two interacting atoms

This paper proposes a high-fidelity hybrid qubit-oscillator platform using the motional states of two interacting atoms in an optical tweezer, which enables versatile bosonic operations and achieves sub-Hz resolution for detecting magnetic dipolar interactions within a tweezer array.

Jaeyong Hwang, Tianrui Xu, Sean R. Muleady, Steven K. Pampel, Gur Lubin, Dawson P. Hewatt, Cindy A. Regal, Ana Maria Rey2026-07-21
🔬 atomic physics

Atomic parity violation in highly charged 40,48^{40,48}Ca and 208^{208}Pb ions

This paper calculates parity-violating E1 amplitudes for specific transitions in highly charged calcium and lead ions, demonstrating that neutron-skin corrections can be neglected for the calcium isotope pair (making it advantageous for searching for new Z′Z' boson physics) while remaining significant for lead.

A. V. Viatkina, Ch. G. Mertens, B. Ohayon, V. A. Yerokhin, A. Surzhykov2026-07-21
🔬 atomic physics

Simulating neural network criticality and resource dynamics with Rydberg gases

This paper experimentally demonstrates that ultracold Rydberg gases, equipped with a controlled gain mechanism to mimic metabolic resource replenishment, serve as a highly controllable simulator for investigating neural network criticality, revealing key phenomena such as power-law avalanche scaling, universal shape collapse, and stochastic oscillations in a non-equilibrium steady state.

Patrick Mischke, Herwig Ott, Michael Fleischhauer, Thomas Niederprüm2026-07-21