title: Entanglement generation and multiparticle interferometry with neutral atoms.
abstract: We study the preparation and manipulation of states involving a small number of interacting particles. By controlling the splitting and fusing of potential wells, we show how to interconvert Mott-insulator-like and trapped BEC-like states. We also discuss the generation of "Schrödinger cat" states by splitting a microtrap and taking into practical consideration the asymmetry between the resulting wells. These schemes can be used to perform multiparticle interferometry with neutral atoms, where interference effects can be observed only when all the participating particles are measured.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA.
authors.forename: Artem M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dudarev
authors.forename: Roberto B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Diener
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Raizen
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Niu