Experiments with Supersonic Beams as a Source of Cold Atoms

Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Mark Raizen. It has
been a privilege to work with Mark for my graduate career, and I am continually
amazed by his creative approach to physics research. I have also been thankful for the
supportive environment he has fostered in the lab, which makes the daily frustrations
of experimental work much easier to bare.
I would also like to thank my wife, Kirsten. Having a fellow physicist at home,
and my partner at work, led to additional stress, but the space provided by our work
on different experiments made all the difference. My ability to discuss physics “after
hours” with her provided me with the solutions to many problems, and her emotional
support in the lab got me through quite a few crises.
Much of my time in the lab was spent with my co-workers on the beam slowing
experiment, which has truly been a team effort. Tom Mazur is a gifted experimental-
ist, and has been a fantastic person to work with. Very few people hold themselves
to as high a standard as Tom does, and this certainly shows in his work and in his
approach to physics. Isaac Chavez started working in the lab at the same time I
did, and his mechanical aptitude and no fear approach helped us in the lab on many
occasions. Travis Bannerman joined the experiment after working with single photon
cooling and laser cooling in general on the rubidium experiment, and this experience
was essential in setting up the hydrogen laser, since he was without doubt our laser
guru.
I also had the pleasure to work with two fantastic post-docs, Ed Narevicius
and Rob Clark. Ed was a fantastic person to work with, and his guidance certainly
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