Single-photon cooling in a wedge billiard

Author :S. Choi, B. Sundaram, and M. G. Raizen
Publication :Physical Review A
Volume :82
Number :033415
Year :2010

Single-photon cooling (SPC), noted for its potential as a versatile method for cooling a variety of atomic
species, has recently been demonstrated experimentally. In this paper, we study possible ways to improve the
performance of SPC by applying it to atoms trapped inside a wedge billiard. The main feature of the wedge
billiard for atoms, also experimentally realized recently, is that the nature of atomic trajectories within it changes
from stable periodic orbit to random chaotic motion with the change in wedge angle.We find that a high cooling
efficiency is possible in this system with a relatively weak dependence on the wedge angle and that chaotic
dynamics, rather than a regular orbit, is more desirable for enhancing the performance of SPC.