Mechanical effects of light

This lecture delves into the mechanical effects of light on atoms, focusing on the dipole force and radiation pressure. The instructor explains how light-matter interaction leads to forces acting on atoms, including the conservative nature of the dipole force and the incoherent nature of radiation pressure. The discussion covers applications such as optical dipole traps and optical lattices, highlighting the principles behind Doppler cooling and its limitations. The lecture concludes by exploring advanced cooling mechanisms like Sisyphus cooling, shedding light on the potential and boundaries of laser cooling techniques in quantum information processing.