Abstract

The mechanical effects of radiation are described within a canonical formalism,¹ laying the foundation for a rigorous description of the changes in atomic gross motion caused by an interaction with a quantized, transverse radiation field. The formalism permits the preservation of gauge invariance and the conservation of energy-momentum, A specific feature, which in the past has been either ignored or overlooked, is found to be important in the determinations of radiation-induced forces, permitting, in particular, velocity-dependent effects, effects which contribute significantly to laser cooling,² to arise naturally.

© 1993 Optical Society of America