Chaotic scattering of atoms at a standing laser wave

TL;DR

This paper investigates how atoms can undergo chaotic scattering when passing through a standing laser wave, revealing that such chaos depends on atom-laser detuning and can be observed experimentally.

Contribution

It demonstrates the occurrence of chaotic atomic scattering in a standing laser wave without spontaneous emission, explaining the underlying dipole moment behavior and its dependence on detuning.

Findings

Chaotic scattering occurs even without spontaneous emission.

The effect depends strongly on atom-laser detuning.

Experimental observation is feasible via absorption imaging or atom deposition.

Abstract

Atoms, propagating across a detuned standing laser wave, can be scattered in a chaotic way even in the absence of spontaneous emission and any modulation of the laser field. Spontaneous emission masks the effect in some degree, but the Monte Carlo simulation shows that it can be observed in real experiments by the absorption imaging method or depositing atoms on a substrate. The effect of chaotic scattering is explained by a specific behavior of the dipole moments of atoms crossing the field nodes and is shown to depend strongly on the value of the atom-laser detuning.