The Optimum Fokker-planck Equation for Laser Cooling

The momentum distribution of laser cooled atoms may be identified approximately by a semiclassical treatment. Among different possibilities we present empirical and analytical arguments for choosing (partial derivative/partial derivative t)omega(p, t) = -(partial derivative/partial derivative p)(F(p)omega(p, t)) + (partial derivative/partial derivative p)(D(p)(partial derivative/partial derivative p)omega(p, t)) as the optimum Fokker-Planck equation for laser cooling, where the mean force and the momentum diffusion coefficients are determined from the solutions of the internal state atomic dynamics.