Pinball resonances in antidot optical lattices

In the case of a transition connecting a ground level having an angular momentum toward an excited state of angular momentum, laser cooling can be achieved on the blue side of the transition, but the lowest potential is not because of the occurrence of an uncoupled state. When a static magnetic field is added, the optical potential becomes modulated, but it generally exhibits antidots rather than wells. As a result, atoms are free to move between the antidots. Actually atom trajectories calculated by numerical simulation show that atoms move by bouncing on the antidots as balls in billiards. We present experimental and numerical evidence of such trajectories. Cesium atoms are cooled in a four-beam lattice.