🔬 Category

physics.atom-ph

728 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

Granularity Noise Limit in Atomic-Ensemble-Based Metrology

This paper challenges the conventional continuous-medium approximation in atomic-ensemble sensing by introducing a discrete-atom framework that reveals an intrinsic "atomic granularity noise" (AGN), demonstrating that increasing optical probe power can paradoxically degrade sensitivity and establishing a fundamental limit where quantum-enhanced metrology fails once the photon-to-atom flux ratio exceeds a critical threshold.

Chen-Rong Liu, Chuang Li, Runxia Tao, Yixuan Wang, Mingti Zhou, Xinqing Wang, Ying Dong2026-04-08
🔬 atomic physics

Direct three body dynamics govern ion atom recombination and barrierless termolecular reactions

This paper challenges the century-old Lindemann-Hinshelwood mechanism by demonstrating that barrierless termolecular reactions, such as ion-atom recombination, are fundamentally governed by direct three-body dynamics rather than sequential bimolecular encounters, a finding that resolves long-standing theory-experiment discrepancies and establishes a new framework for understanding these processes across various scientific fields.

Rian Koots, Marjan Mirahmadi, Jesús Pérez-Ríos2026-04-07
🔬 atomic physics

Interaction of twisted light with free twisted atoms

This paper investigates the interaction between structured light and free atoms modeled as wave packets, demonstrating that vortex photons can efficiently transfer orbital angular momentum to atomic centers of mass, induce recoil effects like the "superkick" and "selfkick," and enable dipole-dominated electronic transitions that violate standard selection rules, all of which are experimentally accessible using cold atomic beams and Penning traps.

I. Pavlov, A. Chaikovskaia, D. Karlovets2026-04-07
🔬 atomic physics

Elucidating Au-C Bonding via Laser Spectroscopy of Gold Monocarbide

This paper reports the first experimental observation and laser spectroscopic characterization of gas-phase gold monocarbide (AuC), providing detailed insights into its electronic structure, bond dissociation energy, and radiative properties to serve as benchmarks for relativistic theory and applications in quantum science.

Rory M. Weldon, Danielle M. Darling, Nicole M. Albright, Kendall L. Rice, Phaedra L. Salerno, K. Cooper Stuntz, Benjamin (…)2026-04-07
🔬 atomic physics

Continuous thermochemical sources of AlF molecules

This paper presents a compact, continuous AlF molecular beam source based on a thermochemical reaction between sublimated aluminum trifluoride and aluminum metal, demonstrating high brightness, successful cryogenic buffer gas cooling to 30 K, and the potential for direct loading into a molecular magneto-optical trap.

Pulkit Kukreja, Priyansh Agarwal, Maximilian Doppelbauer, Jionghao Cai, Xiangyue Liu, Eduardo Padilla, Sebastian Kray, H (…)2026-04-07
🔬 atomic physics

Determination of the ground state polarizability of 162^{162}Dy near 530 nm

This paper experimentally determines the ground-state scalar and vector polarizabilities of 162^{162}Dy near 530 nm by exploiting strong spin-dependent light shifts, providing results that agree with theoretical calculations and offering essential data for optimizing single-atom trapping in optical tweezer arrays.

Alexandre Journeaux, Maxime Lecomte, Julie Veschambre, Maxence Lepers, Jean Dalibard, Raphael Lopes2026-04-06
🔬 atomic physics

Multiband dispersion and warped vortices of strongly-interacting photons

This paper presents a theoretical study demonstrating that strongly interacting Rydberg polaritons exhibit a warped multiband dispersion with degenerate Dirac points and rotational symmetry, challenging the conventional single-band parabolic approximation and advancing the understanding of multi-photon quantum correlations.

Bankim Chandra Das, Dmytro Kiselov, Lee Drori, Ariel Nakav, Alexander Poddubny, Ofer Firstenberg2026-04-03