Physics of Ultracold Atoms
Prof. A.V. Taichenachev
Laser radiation allows cooling of gases to temperatures near to absolute zero. The
advances in this field have been recognized by Nobel Prize in physics in 1997 and 2001. Since
then the technique of laser cooling has become a useful tool for metrological applications
(including atomic clocks, atomic interferometry and gravimetry), spectroscopy and quantum
information. The course is devoted to basic principles and applications of laser cooling and
physics of ultracold atoms.
After the end of the course the student should master the basic notions, models and
methods of laser cooling; including knowledge ofthe basic principles of mechanical action of
light on atoms, the main methods of laser cooling and space localization of atoms, the main
applications of ultracold atoms, similarity and diversity of quasiclassical and purely quantum
descriptions of atomic motion in resonance inhomogeneous field.
The student should be able to apply the acquired knowledge when solving problems and
reading original papers on laser cooling and also possess the notion of two-point atomic density
matrix and its Wigner representation, the simplest models of resonant atom, one-dimensional
model of inhomogeneous polarized field, the notion of quantum kinetic equation for atoms with
account of recoil, the quasiclassical Fokker-Planck evolutionary model in phase space.
Method of assessment: the carrying out a colloquium and an examination at the winter session
is provided.