There is a useful paper describing this: http://optics.colorado.edu/~kelvin/classes/opticslab/LaserCooling3.doc.pdf
Rob Kimberley -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of William H. Fite Sent: 28 June 2011 5:56 PM To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: [time-nuts] How does it work? For the sake of this poor, befuddled non-engineer, would one of you worthy gentlemen explain how it is that lasers striking a mass of cesium atoms and compressing them into a ball (in a cesium fountain) has the effect of cooling them to near absolute zero? That seems counter-intuitive to me, but then I have virtually no education in this area. Thanks! Bill _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
