Kinetic phenomena of atomic motion in a light field

Abstract

Kinetic phenomena of resonant-particle motion in a standing-light-wave field are theoretically discussed. The light-pressure force and its fluctuations are found in a wide range of the parameters: the atomic velocity, the intensity, and the detuning of the field. There are two characteristic regions of the detunings in a strong field: the adiabatic region and the region of Landau–Zener resonances. The quantum fluctuations of the inner atomic state that are due to the Landau–Zener transitions result, specifically, in the interference effect in the mean light-pressure force. The effects of the spatial grating of the cooled atoms, the particle velocity bunching, and the recoil-effect dependence on the nonlinear absorption are considered for slow particles. The effect of optical pumping by linearly polarized light taking into account the recoil effect is fundamentally new. Because of this effect, the anisotropic resonance medium becomes gyrotropic.