Atomic number fluctuations in a falling cold atom cloud

Atomic number fluctuations in a falling cold atom cloud

We evaluate the effective number of atoms in experiments where a probe laser beam with a Gaussian transverse profile passes through an atomic medium consisting in a cold atom cloud released from a magnetooptical trap. Considering the case where the initial distribution is a Gaussian function of position and of velocity, we give a quantitative description of the temporal variation of the effecti...

Ion-Atom Cold Collisions and Atomic Clocks

Reconstruction of a cold atom cloud by magnetic focusing

Slow diffusion of light in a cold atomic cloud.

We study the diffusive propagation of multiply scattered light in an optically thick cloud of cold rubidium atoms illuminated by a quasiresonant laser beam. In the vicinity of a sharp atomic resonance, the energy transport velocity of the scattered light is almost 5 orders of magnitude smaller than the vacuum speed of light, reducing strongly the diffusion constant. We verify the theoretical pr...

Coherent flash of light emitted by a cold atomic cloud

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau...