Courtship of Ions and Atoms

ABSTRACT: 

Cold and trapped atoms and ions have individually enabled a wide range of experiments over the past few decades, and have enjoyed significant scientific attention. Combined trapping of these two systems opens up a range of fresh possibilities. The primary opportunity enabled by mixed systems centres about provocation of interactions in dilute neutral gases, which otherwise are very weak. A few groups around the world have developed such experimental systems, including ours at RRI, to explore the tailored interactions and collisions that such systems allow. In the Colloquium talk I shall introduce the physics of and with these systems from first principles and present the key results. I shall close with the some examples of the science which can be explored with such mixed systems, spanning ab-initio chemistry to condensed matter problems, and more.