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Experiments to Control Atom Number and Phase-Space Density in ...

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on the collision rate of a<strong>to</strong>ms <strong>in</strong>side the quadrupole magnetic trap. The <strong>in</strong>set <strong>in</strong> figure<br />

5.11 shows the calculated collision rates as a function of temperature. At higher tem-<br />

peratures the collision rate <strong>in</strong>creases, lead<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> a faster thermalization time <strong>and</strong> thus<br />

additional phase-space compression.<br />

The transfer efficiency can trivially be <strong>in</strong>creased by <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g the spatial overlap<br />

between the optical trough <strong>and</strong> magnetic trap distributions, or by <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g the trap<br />

depth (or equivalently lower<strong>in</strong>g the magnetic trap temperature). However, typically the<br />

amount of phase-space compression is important for cool<strong>in</strong>g experiments. As discussed<br />

before, phase-space compression can be translated <strong>to</strong> a reduced temperature of the<br />

a<strong>to</strong>mic ensemble.<br />

The simple adiabatic model predicts the phase-space compression <strong>in</strong> a non-<br />

<strong>in</strong>teract<strong>in</strong>g ensemble <strong>to</strong> be<br />

ρ ′<br />

ρ<br />

σ<br />

=<br />

σ ′ <br />

z<br />

T<br />

T ′ .<br />

z<br />

(5.8)<br />

For a given optical trap geometry <strong>and</strong> trap depth, the amount of phase-space compression<br />

will thus <strong>in</strong>crease with an <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> the magnetic trap temperature, despite a decreas<strong>in</strong>g<br />

transfer efficiency. If collisions lead <strong>to</strong> (partial) rethermalization of the magnetically<br />

trapped a<strong>to</strong>ms, the amount of phase-space compression achieved <strong>in</strong> the experiment will<br />

surpass the values predicted by the simple model.<br />

5.6 Monte-Carlo Simulations<br />

A series of Monte-Carlo simulations, written dur<strong>in</strong>g the course of the experiment,<br />

give further <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> the s<strong>in</strong>gle-pho<strong>to</strong>n cool<strong>in</strong>g process <strong>and</strong> the trap dynamics. A Box-<br />

Mueller-algorithm creates r<strong>and</strong>om Gaussian distributions <strong>in</strong> velocity <strong>and</strong> position space,<br />

giv<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>itial conditions for the simulated magnetically trapped a<strong>to</strong>ms. These <strong>in</strong>itial<br />

coord<strong>in</strong>ates evolve follow<strong>in</strong>g the equation of motion <strong>in</strong>side the magnetic trap. (To ensure<br />

that this describes the situation <strong>in</strong> the experiment adequately, i.e. as long as collisions<br />

can be neglected, the spatial <strong>and</strong> velocity distributions are followed <strong>in</strong> time.)<br />

The potentials of the optical beams are added <strong>to</strong> the overall potential, <strong>and</strong> the<br />

optical trap is def<strong>in</strong>ed as a subspace with<strong>in</strong> the overall space. When an a<strong>to</strong>m of the<br />

82

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