Low-intensity limit of the laser cooling of a multistate atom

We adapt an earlier semiclassical theory of laser cooling of an arbitrary multistate atom [J. Javanainen, Phys. Rev. A 44, 5857 (1991)] to the limit of low light intensity. The formal theory is implemented analytically on a computer using m a t h e m a t i c a. Expressions of light-pressure force and diffusion are provided for ${\mathit{j}}_1$=1/2→${\mathit{j}}_2$=3/2 and ${\mathit{j}}_1$=1→${\mathit{j}}_2$=2 atoms in a one-dimensional optical confinement area in which the pair of counterpropagating waves has orthogonal polarizations. In our models the cooling temperature decreases as the level degeneracy increases.