A water droplet as a toy atom

Javier Tello Marmolejo; Adriana Canales; Ricardo Méndez-Fragoso; Dag Hanstorp

doi:10.1117/12.2631867

3 October 2022 A water droplet as a toy atom

Javier Tello Marmolejo, Adriana Canales, Ricardo Méndez-Fragoso, Dag Hanstorp

Proceedings Volume 12198, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XIX; 1219804 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2631867
Event: SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering, 2022, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Common atomic physics courses jump from the square and harmonic well potentials straight to the hydrogen atom. However, there is a missing link in between, the spherical well potential. Although it is included in some textbooks, the lack of an experimental backing means the problem quickly becomes mathematically complex. Here we have built an optical toy atom using the scattering of an optically levitated, evaporating water droplet. We find a greatly simplified Mie scattering spectrum composed of a series of evolving Fano resonances organized in a set of combs. The whole spectrum can be intuitively explained through an analogy to a quantum spherical well potential. This produces a model of an atom including ground and excited states, quantized angular momentum, and tunneling.

Citation Download Citation

Javier Tello Marmolejo, Adriana Canales, Ricardo Méndez-Fragoso, and Dag Hanstorp "A water droplet as a toy atom", Proc. SPIE 12198, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XIX, 1219804 (3 October 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2631867

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