March 21, 2001
Several methods are now available for controlling, with laser beams, the polarization, the velocity and the position of a neutral atom.
A review will be given of the physical mechanisms allowing one to cool atoms down to the microKelvin range and even to the nanoKelvin range.
A few applications of ultracold atoms to various fields, such as atomic clocks, atomic interferometry and Bose-Einstein Condensation, will be also reviewed.
The University of Texas at Austin