Maxwell distribution variation with temperature

Fig. F.IO The Maxwell distribution of speeds and its variation with the temperature. Note the broadening of the distribution and the shift of the mean speed (denoted by the locations of the vertical dotted lines) to higher values as the temperature is increased.

Early experiments with MOT-trapped atoms were carried out by initially slowing an atomic beam to load the trap [20. 21]. Later, a continuous uncooled source was used for that pmpose, suggesting that the trap could be loaded with the slow atoms of a room-temperature vapour [22]. The next advance in the development of magneto-optical trapping was the introduction of the vapour-cell magneto-optical trap (VCMOT). This variation captures cold atoms directly from the low-velocity edge of the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution always present in a cell... 

The effect of temperature on the distribution of energy levels for a given species can be described by the Maxwell-Boltzmann theory, which relates the variation of the number of molecules with an energy equal to or greater than a given energy level to the absolute temperature. Thus... 

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