It is proposed to develop a laser cooling theory for multi- state atoms in fully three dimensional light fields. Operator algebra is employed to express the theory in terms of Matrix operations suitable for implementation on a computer. One will obtain the force and diffusion coefficients characterizing the mechanical effects of light and finally simulate numerically the motion of an atom. Numerical experiments will be made for quantitative aspects such as the temperature of the atoms and qualitative features such as possible trapping of atoms in the structures of a standing wave field.
