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Nature 416, 206-210 (14 March 2002) | doi:10.1038/416206a

overview Cold atoms and quantum control

Steven Chu1

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This overview prefaces a collection of Insight review articles on the physics and applications of laser-cooled atoms. I will cast this work into a historical perspective in which laser cooling and trapping is seen as one of several research directions aimed at controlling the internal and external degrees of freedom of atoms and molecules.