1. komponenta

Lecture type	Total
Lectures	15
Seminar	15

* Load is given in academic hour (1 academic hour = 45 minutes)

The course will be devoted to the basics of laser cooling and trapping; technique that has allowed cooling of atoms to temperatures close to absolute zero, and thus has led to a new insight into the world of quantum physics. Topics include: 1. Atom - light interaction; 2. Expression of the light force; 3. General properties concerning laser cooling; 4. Principle of Doppler cooling; 5. The magneto-optical trap (MOT); 6. Cooling bellow the Doppler limit; 7. The dipole force; 8. Magnetic trapping of neutral atoms; 9. Evaporative cooling; 10. Applications (atomic optics, atomic interferometry, Rydberg state, ultra-cold molecules, ultra-cold plasma, Bose-Einstein condesate (BEC), optical gratings, atomic clocks, quantum information, quantum entanglement).

1. H.J. Metcalf, P. van der Straten, Laser Cooling and Trapping, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1999.
2. W.D. Phillips, Laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms, Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 70, No. 3, July 1998.