Scattering theory of multilevel atoms interacting with arbitrary radiation fields

TL;DR

This paper introduces a transfer matrix method to model how multilevel atoms interact with complex light fields, enabling analysis of their scattering behavior in various optical setups.

Contribution

The paper develops a general transfer matrix formalism for multilevel atoms interacting with arbitrary light fields, extending existing models to more complex optical environments.

Findings

The formalism accurately reproduces known sub-Doppler cooling results.

It can incorporate complex optical components like mirrors and filters.

The approach is validated against standard literature results.

Abstract

We present a generic transfer matrix approach for the description of the interaction of atoms possessing multiple ground state and excited state sublevels with light fields. This model allows us to treat multi-level atoms as classical scatterers in light fields modified by, in principle, arbitrarily complex optical components such as mirrors, resonators, dispersive or dichroic elements, or filters. We verify our formalism for two prototypical sub-Doppler cooling mechanisms and show that it agrees with the standard literature.