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PyLCP: A python package for laser cooling physics

ORAL

Abstract

We present a python object-oriented computer program for simulating laser cooling physics. Our software is designed to be both easy to use and adaptable, allowing the user to specify the level structure, magnetic field profile, and the laser beams' geometry, detuning, and intensity. The program contains three levels of approximation for the motion of the atom, applicable in different regimes offering cross checks for calculations and computational efficiency depending on the physical situation. We test the software by reproducing well-known phenomena, such as damped Rabi flopping, electromagnetically induced transparency, stimulated Raman adiabatic passage, and optical molasses. We also use our software package to quantitatively simulate recoil-limited magneto-optical traps, like those formed on the narrow $^1$S$_0\rightarrow ^3$P$_1$ transition in $^{88}$Sr and $^{87}$Sr.

Publication: arXiv:2011.07979

Presenters

  • Stephen P Eckel

    National Institute of Standards and Tech

Authors

  • Stephen P Eckel

    National Institute of Standards and Tech

  • Daniel S Barker

    National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • eric Norrgard

    National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Julia Scherschligt

    National Institute of Standards and Technology