Anomalous Doppler-effect and polariton-mediated cooling of two-level atoms

Geometric resonance cooling of polarizable particles in an optical waveguide

In the radiation field of an optical waveguide, the Rayleigh scattering of photons is shown to result in a strongly velocity-dependent force on atoms. The pump field, which is injected in the fundamental branch of the waveguide, is favorably scattered by a moving atom into one of the transversely excited branches of propagating modes. All fields involved are far detuned from any resonances of the atom. For a simple polarizable particle, a linear friction force coefficient comparable to that of cavity cooling can be achieved.

Large velocity capture range and low temperatures with cavities

There are interesting modifications to the Doppler force when atoms strongly couple to an optical cavity. In particular, there is the possibility to increase the velocity capture range while maintaining a final temperature close to the Doppler limit. The mechanism is based on the multiple absorption emissions of each cavity photon. A previously reported counterintuitive Doppler effect is clarified.

Cooling trapped atoms in optical resonators

We derive an equation for the cooling dynamics of the quantum motion of an atom trapped by an external potential inside an optical resonator. This equation has broad validity and allows us to identify novel regimes where the motion can be efficiently cooled to the potential ground state. Our result shows that the motion is critically affected by quantum correlations induced by the mechanical coupling with the resonator, which may lead to selective suppression of certain transitions for the appropriate parameters regimes, thereby increasing the cooling efficiency.