Statistical Mechanics of an Optical Phase Space Compressor
Artem M. Dudarev, M. Marder, Q. Niu +2 more
PACS. 32.80.Pj – Optical cooling of atoms; trapping. PACS. 33.80.Ps – Optical cooling of molecules; trapping. Abstract. – We describe the statistical mechanics of a new method to produce very cold atoms or molecules. The method results from trapping a gas in a potential well, and sweeping through the well a semi-permeable barrier, one that allows particles to leave but not to return. If the sweep is sufficiently slow, all the particles trapped in the well compress into an arbitrarily cold gas. We derive analytical expressions for the velocity distribution of particles in the cold gas, and compare these results with numerical simulations. Introduction. – Evaporative cooling was originally suggested as a means to achieve Bose-Einstein condensation in atomic hydrogen [1–3]. Its application to magnetically trapped alkali atoms [4,5] culminated in the first observation of Bose–Einstein condensation in atomic vapors [6–8]. Since then it has been the essential process by which to obtain degenerate quantum gases. Nevertheless it has shortcomings. The main two are
•Jan 1, 2005•24 citations