Synchronization and bifurcations of internal and external degrees of freedom of an atom in a standing light wave

The nonlinear dynamical effects of synchronization and bifurcations of Rabi oscillations and oscillations of the center of mass of an atom moving in the field of a standing light wave are theoretically and numerically examined. After completion of a transient process, synchronized oscillations, stable with respect to small noise, are established both upon ballistic motion of the atom and upon its oscillations in the optical potential well. The bifurcations of limit cycle generation with different periods (tripling of the period is most pronounced) and the passage to a chaotic strange attractor through an intermittency are obtained.