Cold atoms in cavity-generated dynamical optical potentials

We review state-of-the-art theory and experiment of the motion of cold and ultracold atoms coupled to the radiation field within a high-finesse optical resonator in the dis-persive regime of the atom-field interaction with small internal excitation. The optical dipole force on the atoms together with the back-action of atomic motion onto the light field gives rise to a complex nonlinear coupled dynamics. As the resonator constitutes an open driven and damped system, the dynamics is non-conservative and in general enables cooling and confining the motion of polarizable particles. In addition the emit-ted cavity field allows for real-time monitoring of the particle’s position with minimal perturbation up to…

• AS
  Austrian Science Fund
• MT
  Magyar Tudományos Akadémia

  Award: LP2011-016
• NK
  Nemzeti Kutatási és Technológiai Hivatal