Evolution of the velocity distribution of atoms under the action of the bichromatic force

TL;DR

This paper numerically investigates how the velocity distribution of atoms evolves under bichromatic force, revealing correlations between distribution width and acceleration, and confirming the proportionality of momentum diffusion to laser intensity.

Contribution

The study introduces a numerical analysis of atomic velocity evolution under bichromatic force, validating diffusion estimates and separating effects of Doppler shifts using Monte Carlo simulations.

Findings

Momentum diffusion coefficient correlates with laser intensity.

Numerical results support the analogy with $ ext{ extpi}$-pulse interactions.

Velocity distribution evolution aligns with theoretical predictions.

Abstract

We study numerically the evolution of the velocity distribution of atoms under the action of the bichromatic force. The comparison of the time dependencies of the distribution width and the average acceleration of atoms reveal the correlation of these quantities. We show that the estimation of the momentum diffusion coefficient on the basis of the analogy between the interaction of atoms with the counter-propagating bichromatic waves and the interaction of atoms with the counter-propagating sequences of the $\pi$-pulses roughly corresponds to the results of numerical calculations. To separate the influence of the momentum diffusion on the evolution of atomic momentum distribution from the influence of the time-dependent Doppler shift, we study the motion of a ``heavy'' atom, for which the velocity change during the interaction of an atom with the field can be neglected. Provided that the parameters of the atom-field interaction are optimal, we show that the momentum diffusion coefficient is proportional to the intensity of the laser radiation. We used the Monte Carlo wave-function method for the numerical simulation of the atomic motion.