Self sustained collective oscillation in a cloud of cold atoms

This study presents experimental results of the collective effects, which are modifying the magneto-optical trap size, the motion of the center of mass (changing from overdamped to underdamped motion) and the most intriguing result of the dynamics of the magneto-optical trap size, i.e. the self-sustained collective oscillations. A simple theoretical model can explain most of the qualitative behavior observed in the experiment.