Monthly Archives: January 2025

The purpose of this post is to explain several techniques for laser cooling and laser trapping of atoms. In order to better emphasize key conceptual points, it will take the approach of posing problems, followed immediately by their solutions. Problem … Continue reading →

The purpose of this post is to review the theory behind several standard amplitude-splitting interferometers. Michelson Interferometer The simplest possible version of a Michelson interferometer is the following: For now, consider for simplicity a monochromatic light source of frequency \(\omega=ck=nvk=n’v’k=n^{\prime\prime}v^{\prime\prime}k\). … Continue reading →

Problem: What does the phrase “spectral line shape” mean? Solution: A spectrum is typically a plot of the intensity \(I(\omega)\sim|E(\omega)|^2\) of some underlying time domain signal \(E(t)\). Problem: What are the \(2\) most prominent kinds of spectra one encounters? Solution: … Continue reading →

The purpose of this post is to explain how Boltzmann’s equation in kinetic theory arises. Problem #\(1\): Write down Liouville’s equation from classical Hamiltonian mechanics governing the incompressible phase space flow (i.e. time evolution) of the joint probability density function … Continue reading →