ERIC R. I. ABRAHAM

Assistant Professor of Physics phone: (405) 325-3961 x36127 Department of Physics and Astronomy fax: (405) 325-7557 University of Oklahoma e-mail: [email protected] 440 West Brooks Norman, OK 73019

Education Ph.D., Physics, Rice University, 1996, Thesis: Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Collisions between Ultracold Lithium Atoms. M.A., Physics, Rice University, 1994. B.A., Physics and Mathematics, magna cum laude, St. Olaf College, 1991.

Appointments Associate Professor of Physics, University of Oklahoma, 2004-present. Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Oklahoma, 1998-2004. National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, JILA; National Institute of Standards and Technology and The University of Colorado, 1996-1998. Research Assistant, Rice University, 1992-1996. Teaching Assistant, Rice University, 1991-1992. Research Assistant, St. Olaf College, 1990-1991. Summer Undergraduate Research Program Fellowship, University of Minnesota, 1989.

Honors and Awards L. J. Samford Presidential Professor, 2005. The Regents’ Award for Superior Teaching, University of Oklahoma, 2004. Junior Faculty Research Fellowship, University of Oklahoma, 2001. Junior Faculty Research Fellowship, University of Oklahoma, 1999. National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1996-1998. Rice University Wilson Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis, 1996. Robert A. Welch Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 1995-1996. Pi Kappa Delta, speech and communication honorary fraternity, 1988-1991. Sigma Pi Sigma, physics honorary fraternity, 1989-1991. Phi Beta Kappa, general honorary fraternity, 1991. Departmental Distinction in Physics, St. Olaf College, 1991. National Merit Scholarship, 1987 - 1991.

Associations American Physical Society. American Association of Physics Teachers. Phi Beta Kappa. Publications (Peer-Reviewed Journals) Bryan J. Bichsel, Michael A. Morrison, Neil E. Shafer-Ray, and E. R. I. Abraham, “A cold source of nitric oxide,” in preparation (2005).

S. A. Meek, E. R. I. Abraham, and Neil Shafer-Ray, “On the impossibility of a biased two-dimensional Stark trap,” in preparation (2005).

Sharon A. Kennedy, G. Biedermann, J. Tom Farrar, L. Johnson, J. Marzoula, M. J. Szabo, B. Dribus and E. R. I. Abraham, “Confinement of ultracold atoms in Laguerre-Gaussian laser beams,” in preparation (2005).

Michael Morrison, Bryan J. Bichsel, Neil E. Shafer-Ray and E. R. I. Abraham, “The Stark effect in nitric oxide,” in preparation (2005).

Evgueni Nikitin, Elena Dashevskaya, Janis Alnis, Marcis Auzinsh, E. R. I. Abraham, Brendan R Furneaux, Mark Keil, Chris McRaven, Neil Shafer-Ray, and Richard Waskowsky, “Measurement and prediction of the speed-dependent throughput of a magnetic octupole velocity filter including nonadiabatic effects,” Physical Review A 68, 023403 pages 1-8 (2003).

N. E. Shafer-Ray, K. A. Milton, B. R. Furneaux, E. R. I. Abraham, and G. R. Kalbfleisch, “Design of a biased Stark trap of molecules that move adiabatically in an electric field,” Physical Review A 67, 045401 pages 1-4 (2003).

Janis Alnis, Kaspars Blushs, Marcis Auzinsh, Sharon Kennedy, Neil Shafer-Ray, and E. R. I. Abraham, “The Hanle effect and level crossing spectroscopy in Rb vapour under strong laser excitation,” Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, 36 1161-1173 (2003).

Sharon A. Kennedy, Matthew J. Szabo, Hilary Teslow, James Z. Porterfield, and E. R. I. Abraham, “Creation of Laguerre- Gaussian laser modes using diffractive optics,” Physical Review A 66, 043801 pages 1-5 (2002).

J. Tempere, J. T. Devreese, and E. R. I. Abraham, “Vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates confined in a multiply connected Laguerre-Gaussian optical trap,” Physical Review A 64, 023603 pages 1-8 (2001).

D. Mueller, D. Z. Andersen, E. A. Cornell, and E. R. I. Abraham, “Guiding laser cooled atoms in hollow core fibers,” Physical Review A, 61 033411 pages 1-6 (2000).

E. R. I. Abraham and E. A. Cornell, “A Teflon feed through for coupling optical fibers into ultra-high vacuum systems,” Applied Optics 37, 1762-1763 (1997).

E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, J. M. Gerton, R. G. Hulet, R. Côté, and A. Dalgarno, “Triplet s-wave resonance in 6Li collisions and scattering lengths of 6Li and 7Li,” Physical Review A 55, R3299-R3302 (1997).

W. I. McAlexander, E. R. I. Abraham, and R. G. Hulet, “Radiative lifetime of the 2P state of lithium,” Physical Review A 54, R5-R8 (1996).

E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, J. M. Gerton, R. G. Hulet, R. Côté, and A. Dalgarno, “Singlet s-wave scattering lengths of 6Li and 7Li,” Physical Review A 53, R3713-R3715 (1996).

E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, H. T. C. Stoof, and R. G. Hulet, “Hyperfine structure in photoassociative spectra of 6Li2 and 7Li2,” Physical Review A 53, 3092-3097 (1996).

E. R. I. Abraham, N. W. M. Ritchie, W. I. McAlexander, and R. G. Hulet, “Photoassociative spectroscopy of long-range states of ultracold 6Li2 and 7Li2,” Journal of Chemical Physics 103, 7773-7778 (1995).

E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, C. A. Sackett, and Randall G. Hulet, “Spectroscopic Determination of the s-Wave Scattering Length of Lithium,” Physical Review Letters 74, 1315-1318 (1995). W. I. McAlexander, E. R. I. Abraham, N. W. M. Ritchie, C. J. Williams, H. T. C. Stoof, and R. G. Hulet, “Precise atomic radiative lifetime via photoassociative spectroscopy of ultracold lithium,” Physical Review A 51, R871-R874 (1995).

N. W. M. Ritchie, E. R. I. Abraham, Y. Y. Xiao, C. C. Bradley, R. G. Hulet and P. S. Julienne, “Trap-loss collisions of ultracold lithium atoms,” Physical Review A 51, R890-R893 (1995).

N. W. M. Ritchie, E. R. I. Abraham, and R. G. Hulet, “Trap Loss Collisions of 7Li: The Role of Trap Depth,” Laser Physics 4, 1066-1073 (1994).

David E. Nitz, Dean Sieglaff, Mark Lagus, E. R. Abraham, Peter Wold, and Kirk Swanson, “Repulsive wall of the He2 interaction as inferred from differential cross sections,” Physical Review A 47, 3861-3866 (1993).

Other Publications K. G. Ayappa, E. R. Abraham, H. T. Davis, E. A. Davis, and J. Gordon, “Influence of sample width of deducing capillary pressure curves with the centrifuge,” University of Minnesota, Supercomputer Institute Research Report, UMSI 92/77 pages 1- 19 (1992).

Invited Presentations E. R. I. Abraham, “The Coldest Physics: Atoms and Molecules near Absolute Zero,” Texas State University, San Marcos, November 12, 2003.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The Coldest Physics: Atoms and Molecules near Absolute Zero,” Grinnell College, November 4, 2003.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The Coldest Physics: Atoms and Molecules near Absolute Zero,” University of Oklahoma, September 25, 2003.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Methods to Cool and Trap Atoms and Molecules,” University of Nebraska, November, 2002.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Development of Methods to Cool and Trap Atoms and Molecules,” ONR Program Review, May, 2002.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Precision Measurements in Ultracold Atoms and Molecules,” Kansas State University, October 10, 2001.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The Coldest Spot in Oklahoma: Laser-Cooled Atoms and New Traps to Hold Them,” Oklahoma State University, October 19, 2000.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The Coldest Physics: Atoms at nano-Kelvin Temperatures,” St. Olaf College, November 18, 1998.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Atom Fiber Optics,” University of Nebraska, February 19, 1998.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Atom Fiber Optics,” University of Oklahoma, February 2, 1998.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Atom Fiber Optics,” Georgia Institute of Technology, January 28, 1998.

E. R. I. Abraham, Dirk Mueller, Brian DeMarco, Kristan Corwin, Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman, and Dana Anderson, “Guiding atoms through hollow core optical fibers,” SPIE Proceedings, 2995 (1997).

E. R. I. Abraham, D. Mueller, B. DeMarco, K. L. Corwin, E. A. Cornell, and D. Z. Anderson, “Guiding atoms through hollow core optical fibers,” QELS, 12, 128 (1997).

E. R. I. Abraham, “Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Collisions between Ultracold Lithium Atoms,” University of Texas, Austin, May 3, 1996.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Collisions between Ultracold Lithium Atoms,” Yale University, March 25, 1996. E. R. I. Abraham, “Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Collisions between Ultracold Lithium Atoms,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, March 22, 1996.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Collisions between Ultracold Lithium Atoms,” National Institute of Standards and Technology, February 9, 1996.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Collisions between Ultracold Lithium Atoms,” Rowland Institute, November, 1995.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Repulsive wall of the He2 interaction potential as inferred from differential cross sections,” St. Olaf College, April, 1991.

Presentations (National/International) E. R. I. Abraham, Bryan Bichsel, Neil Shafer-Ray, “Sources and studies of cold molecular NO,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society 48, 128 (2003).

Bryan Bichsel, Jim Farnsworth, Brendan Furneaux, Brady Longenbaugh, Sam Meek, E. R. I. Abraham, Neil Shafer-Ray, “Guides and traps based on the Stark and Zeeman effects for ultracold NO,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society 48, 27 (2003).

Janis Alnis, Kaspars Blushs, Marcis Auzinsh, Sharon Kennedy, Neil Shafer-Ray, and E. R. I. Abraham, “The Hanle effect and level crossing spectroscopy in Rb vapor under strong laser excitation, 34th European Group for Atomic Spectroscopy Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria, July 9-12, (2002).

E. R. I. Abraham, Janis Alnis, Marcis Auzinsh, Elena Dashevskaya, Brendan Furneaux, Mark Keil, Chris McRaven. Evgueni Nikitin, Neil Shafer-Ray, and Richard Waskowsky, “The speed-dependent throughput of a magnetic octupole velocity filter including non-adiabatic effects,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society 47, 101 (2002).

E. R. I. Abraham and Michael Morrison, “Prospects for an atomic clock in a laser trap,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society 47, 36 (2002).

E. R. I. Abraham, Janis Alnis, Marcis Auzinsh, Elena Dashevskaya, Brendan Furneaux, Mark Keil, Chris McRaven. Evgueni Nikitin, Neil Shafer-Ray, and Richard Waskowsky, “The speed-dependent throughput of a magnetic octupole velocity filter including non-adiabatic effects,” Les Houches, France, March 3-8 (2002).

Jacques Tempere, Jozef Devreese, and E. R. I. Abraham, “Bose-Einstein condensation in a Laguerre-Gaussian optical trap,” APS March Meeting (2000).

Sharon A. Kennedy, Matthew J. Szabo, and Eric R. I. Abraham, “Laguerre-Gaussian Laser Modes for Atom Traps,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society 45, 77 (2000).

S. Kennedy, T. Farrar, and E. R. I. Abraham, “Atomic studies with laser fields at nano-Kelvin temperatures,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society 43, 725 (1999).

D. Mueller, E. R. I. Abraham, D. Z. Anderson, E. A. Cornell, and C. E. Wieman, “Guiding laser cooled atoms,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society 44, 1644 (1999).

E. R. I. Abraham, D. Mueller, D. Z. Anderson, E. A. Cornell, and C. E. Wieman, “Fiber Optics with Laser Cooled Atoms,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society 43, 1309 (1998).

E. R. I. Abraham, D. Mueller, B. DeMarco, C. E. Wieman, D. Z. Anderson, and E. A. Cornell, “Atom guiding through hollow- core optical fibers,” Atomic Physics Gordon Conference (1997).

W. I. McAlexander, E. R. I. Abraham, J. Gerton, R. Hulet, R. Côté, A. Dalgarno, “Triplet s-wave resonance in 6Li collisions and scattering lengths of 6Li and 7Li,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 42, 969 (1997). B. DeMarco, E. R. I. Abraham, D. Mueller, C. E. Wieman, D. Z. Anderson, and E. A. Cornell, “Atom guiding through hollow- core optical fibers,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 42, 966 (1997).

6 E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, R. G. Hulet, and H. T. C. Stoof, “Hyperfine Structure in Photoassociative Spectra of Li2 7 and Li2,”Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 41, 1136 (1996).

E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, J. M. Gerton, R. G. Hulet, R. Côté, and A. Dalgarno, “Singlet s-Wave Scattering Lengths of 6Li and 7Li,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 41, 1082 (1996).

W. I. McAlexander, E. R. I. Abraham, and R. G. Hulet, “Ultra-Precise Determination of the 2P Radiative Lifetime of Lithium,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 41, 1065 (1996).

E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, C. A. Sackett, and R. G. Hulet, “Spectroscopic Determination of the S-Wave Scattering Length of Lithium,” Quantum Electronics and laser Science Conference Technical Digest, 16, 34 (1995).

R. Côté, A. Dalgarno, Y. Sun, E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, and R. G. Hulet, “High-Resolution Photoassociative Spectrum of Ultracold Li,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 40, 1312 (1995).

E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, C. A. Sackett, and R. G. Hulet, “Spectroscopic Determination of the S-Wave Scattering Length of Lithium,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 40, 1348 (1995).

E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, N. W. M. Ritchie, C. Williams, R. G. Hulet, and H. T. C. Stoof, “Precise radiative lifetime via photoassociative spectroscopy of ultra-cold lithium,” ICAP (1994).

W. I. McAlexander, E. R. I. Abraham, N. W. M. Ritchie, and R. G. Hulet, “Atomic lifetime measurement via photoassociative spectroscopy of ultra-cold lithium,” International Quantum Electronics Conference, Postdeadline Papers (1994).

N. W. M. Ritchie, E. R. I. Abraham, and R. G. Hulet, “Collisional loss from a 7Li magneto-optical trap,” International Quantum Electronics Conference, 9, 217, (1994).

N. W. M. Ritchie, E. R. I. Abraham, W. I. McAlexander, and R. G. Hulet, “Isotopic Comparison of Collisional Trap Loss in Magneto-Optically Trapped Li,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 39, 1166 (1994).

E. R. I. Abraham, N. W. M. Ritchie, W. I. McAlexander, and R. G Hulet, “Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Magneto- Optically Trapped 6Li and 7Li,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 39, 1026 (1994).

N. W. M. Ritchie, Y. Y. Xiao, E. R. I. Abraham, and R. G. Hulet, “Measurement of the Collisional Trap Loss Rate in Magneto- Optically Trapped 7Li and 6Li,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 38, 1168 (1993).

David E. Nitz, E. R. Abraham, Peter Wold, and Kirk Swanson, “He-He Interatomic Potential Between 0.5 and 2.0 Angstroms,” Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 37, 1106 (1992).

Presentations (Regional and Local) E. R. I. Abraham, “What’s With Light These Days?” Lions (Sooner), through OU Speaker Service, April 21, 2003.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Experiments with Ultracold Molecules,” Texas Section of the American Physical Society Meeting, March 7, 2003.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The State of the Field: Ultracold Atomic Physics,” OCUMP Ultracold Molecular Physics Workshop, University of Oklahoma, July 30, 2001.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The coldest science, atoms near absolute zero and lab tour” Western Heights High School Physics Class, July 27, 2001. E. R. I. Abraham, “Stopping Light,” College of Engineering Lyceum, February 8, 2001.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The coldest science, atoms near absolute zero,” Oklahoma State University Undergraduate Seminar, October 19, 2000.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The coldest science, atoms near absolute zero,” Central Oklahoma Mensa Society, through OU Speaker Service, September 16, 2000.

E. R. I. Abraham, “The coldest science, atoms near absolute zero,” Bridge Creek Middle School, through OU Speaker Service, December 6, 1999.

E. R. I. Abraham, W. Ian McAlexander, Jordan M. Gerton and Randall G. Hulet, “Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Ultracold Lithium,” Rice Quantum Institute Summer Research Colloquium, August 18, 1995.

W. Ian McAlexander, E. R. I. Abraham, Jordan M. Gerton, and Randall G. Hulet, “Determination of the 2P Radiative Atomic Lifetime of Lithium Using Photoassociative Spectroscopy,” Rice Quantum Institute Summer Research Colloquium, August 18, 1995.

Jordan M. Gerton, Steven Moss, E. R. I. Abraham, Nicholas W. M. Ritchie, and Randall G. Hulet, “A Collisional Model for Ultracold Rubidium in a Magneto-Optical Trap,” Rice Quantum Institute Summer Research Colloquium, August 18, 1995.

E. R. I. Abraham, Ian McAlexander, Jeff Tollett, and Randy Hulet, “Photoassociative Spectroscopy of the Least Bound 7 Vibrational Levels of the Triplet Ground State of Li2,” Rice Quantum Institute Summer Research Colloquium, August 19, 1994.

Ian McAlexander, E. R. I. Abraham, Nicholas Ritchie, and Randy Hulet, “Atomic Radiative Lifetime via Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Ultra-Cold Lithium,” Rice Quantum Institute Summer Research Colloquium, August 19, 1994.

N. W. M. Ritchie, E. R. I. Abraham, Y. Y. Xiao, and R. G. Hulet, “Collisions Between Ultracold Atoms”, Rice Quantum Institute Summer Research Colloquium, August 13, 1993.

E. R. I. Abraham, C. C. Bradley, and R. G. Hulet, “Optogalvanic Spectroscopy in a Lithium Doped Hollow Cathode Lamp”, Rice Quantum Institute Summer Research Colloquium, August 14, 1992.

E. R. I. Abraham, “Influence of sample width of deducing capillary pressure curves with the centrifuge,” University of Minnesota, Summer Research Program Conference, September, 1990. Research My first research into Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics involved analyzing He-He collisions as an undergraduate with Dr. David Nitz at St. Olaf College. We used small-angle differential cross section data to construct He2 interaction potentials. I started work in the field of laser cooling and trapping at Rice University as a graduate student of Dr. Randall Hulet. My primary efforts involved studying collisions between ultracold (T < 1mK) lithium atoms. We utilized photoassociative spectroscopy; using photons to form molecules from colliding atoms. We constructed very accurate excited-state Li2 interaction potentials, from which we extracted the radiative lifetime of atomic lithium. This measurement resolved a long- standing disagreement between experiment and theory, and still is the most accurate measurement of a non-hydrogen atomic lifetime. Using two photons, we located the highest-lying bound state of the ground-state molecular potential in lithium, from which we were able to make the first accurate measurement of the s-wave scattering length. The result (that it was negative) had profound implications on Bose-Einstein condensation in lithium. Working as a National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow with Dr. Eric Cornell at JILA, I worked on dipole force confinement of ultracold rubidium atoms with applications to atom interferometry. We demonstrated and studied ultracold atoms being guided in sub-millimeter hollow-core optical fibers confined by laser fields tuned to a frequency above the resonance frequency in rubidium (blue-detuned) and propagating in the toroidal glass fiber.

Starting at the University of Oklahoma, I built an ultracold rubidium experiment to develop dipole traps using Laguerre- Gaussian (LG) laser modes. Lasers in LG modes are of interest to several different fields of physics due to their characteristic phase singularity, orbital angular momentum, and multiply-connected topology. These traps could be particularly effective in the study of vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates. I developed a new method to create LG beams based on diffractive optics. My group demonstrated a mode purity consistent with 100% of the laser intensity in the LG mode of choice, a purity theoretically impossible using other methods with diode lasers. We recently demonstrated loading and confinement of ultracold rubidium atoms in toroidal traps made from both red-detuned and blue-detuned LG laser beams. In collaboration with the research group of Marcis Auzinsh from the University of Latvia, our group examined the Hanle effect in rubidium (motivated by the fact that the radiative lifetime in rubidium was previously measured to 2% using the Hanle effect). Taking advantage of our high-power diode lasers, we were able to contribute new studies of the Hanle effect under strong laser excitation.

Laser cooling and trapping has had quite an impact on atomic physics. Because most laser cooling experiments are done with alkali-metals, there is a significant field of research (and perhaps the next big revolution) in producing and studying ultracold samples of other atoms and molecules. With my experience in cooling and trapping and Dr. Neil Shafer-Ray's experience in molecular physics, we are collaborating at the University of Oklahoma to pursue methods of creating ultracold molecules. We built a Stark guide that “skims” the cold fraction of a thermal nitric oxide (NO) source utilizing static electric fields. Our lab has recently observed output of cold NO from the guide, and we are currently implementing a multi-photon scheme to measure the output temperature. Next, we will load the cold NO particles into a Stark trap. We showed recently that it is possible to construct a Stark trap in three dimensions with a non-zero bias field minimum, which would be significant for eliminating non- adiabatic loss from the trap. In collaboration with Michael Morrison, I have completed a definitive theoretical analysis of the Stark effect in NO. Once trapped, we will study ultracold molecular collisions.

In the future, we will use the ultracold rubidium to sympathetically cool the trapped NO to attempt quantum degenerate gasses of molecules. We are also pursuing the production of ultracold samples of other molecules for a search for the electric dipole moment of the electron.