Cooling trapped atoms in optical resonators

We derive an equation for the cooling dynamics of the quantum motion of an atom trapped by an external potential inside an optical resonator. This equation has broad validity and allows us to identify novel regimes where the motion can be efficiently cooled to the potential ground state. Our result shows that the motion is critically affected by quantum correlations induced by the mechanical coupling with the resonator, which may lead to selective suppression of certain transitions for the appropriate parameters regimes, thereby increasing the cooling efficiency. © 2005 The American Physical Society.