title: Supercooling of Atoms in an Optical Resonator.
abstract: We investigate laser cooling of an ensemble of atoms in an optical cavity. We demonstrate that when atomic dipoles are synchronized in the regime of steady-state superradiance, the motion of the atoms may be subject to a giant frictional force leading to potentially very low temperatures. The ultimate temperature limits are determined by a modified atomic linewidth, which can be orders of magnitude smaller than the cavity linewidth. The cooling rate is enhanced by the superradiant emission into the cavity mode allowing reasonable cooling rates even for dipolar transitions with ultranarrow linewidth.
authors.affiliation: JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.|Center for Theory of Quantum Matter, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
authors.forename: Minghui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Theoretische Physik, Universität des Saarlandes, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Jäger
authors.affiliation: Center for Theory of Quantum Matter, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schütz
authors.affiliation: JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Theoretische Physik, Universität des Saarlandes, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Morigi
authors.affiliation: JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.|Center for Theory of Quantum Matter, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Holland