Multi-state interferometric measurement of nonlinear AC Stark shift

Abstract: We demonstrate measurement of quadratic AC Stark shifts between Zeeman sublevels in an $^{87}$Rb Bose--Einstein condensate using a multi-state atomic interferometer. The interferometer can detect a quadratic shift without being affected by relatively large state-independent shifts, thereby improving the measurement precision. We measure quadratic shifts in the total spin $F = 2$ state due to the light being near-resonant to the D$_1$ line. The agreement between the measured and theoretical detuning dependences of the quadratic shifts confirms the validity of the measurement. We also present results on the suppression of nonlinear spin evolution using near-resonant dual-color light pulses with opposite quadratic shifts.