QUANTUM WAVE-FUNCTION SIMULATION OF THE RESONANCE FLUORESCENCE-SPECTRUM FROM ONE-DIMENSIONAL OPTICAL MOLASSES

Using recently developed quantum wave function techniques, we have performed a simulation of Rb-85 atoms in a one-dimensional optical molasses, formed from counterpropagating laser beams with orthogonal linear polarizations. Both internal and external degrees of freedom are treated quantum mechanically in one dimension and the spectrum of resonance fluorescence is calculated and compared to recent experiments. Excellent agreement is obtained for the spectrum and additional insight is gained into the experimental evidence for quantized motion in the optical potentials.