Slow collisions between identical atoms in a laser field: Application of the Born and Markov approximations to the system of moving atoms

M. Trippenbach, Bo Gao, J. Cooper, and K. Burnett
Phys. Rev. A 45, 6539 – Published 1 May 1992
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Abstract

We have derived reduced-density-matrix equations of motion for a pair of two identical atoms moving in the radiation field as the first step in establishing a theory of collisional redistribution of light from neutral-atom traps. We use the Zwanzig projection-operator technique to average over spontaneous field modes and establish the conditions under which Born and Markov approximations can be applied to the system of moving atoms. It follows from these considerations that when these conditions hold, the reduced-density-matrix equation for moving atoms has the same form as that for the stationary case: time dependence is introduced into the decay rates and interaction potentials by making the substitution R=R(t).

  • Received 23 September 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.45.6539

©1992 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. Trippenbach, Bo Gao, and J. Cooper

  • Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440

K. Burnett

  • Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom

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Vol. 45, Iss. 9 — May 1992

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