2005/08/31 by Stefano Zippilli, Giovanna Morigi · 2 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Quantum Information and Cryptography #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.72.053408
published as Phys. Rev. A 72, 053408 (2005) · 17 pages, 6 figures
openalex publication_date 2005/11/14 · arxiv created 2007/03/21 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We investigate theoretically the mechanical effects of light on atoms trapped by an external potential, whose dipole transition couples to the mode of an optical resonator and is driven by a laser. We derive an analytical expression for the quantum center-of-mass dynamics, which is valid in presence of a tight external potential. This equation has broad validity and allows for a transparent interpretation of the individual scattering processes leading to cooling. We show that the dynamics is a competition of the mechanical effects of the cavity and of the laser photons, which may mutually interfere. We focus on the good-cavity limit and identify novel cooling schemes, which are based on quantum interference effects and lead to efficient ground-state cooling in experimentally accessible parameter regimes.