Coherent repopulation of the components of a three-level quantum system in the field of a pulsed bichromatic radio frequency wave

The coherent repopulation of a quantum system consisting of three nonequidistant levels in the field of a resonant bichromatic rf wave is studied. The atoms are assumed to have an impulsive interaction with the rf wave in which the pulse duration is less than any of the relaxation times. The hyperfine structure of gas atoms and a system of atomic oscillator levels in a magnetic trap are considered as examples of such a quantum system. It is shown that in the second case, the coherent repopulation effect can be used to cool neutral atoms in magnetic traps. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 1181–1192 (April 1998)