We study the dynamics of a system of bosonic or fermionic atoms in a microscopic trap undergoing laser cooling. We show that the stationary state can be described by a Bose-Einstein or Fermi-Dirac distribution, respectively. Fluorescence from the system reflects quantum statistical properties.

• Received 16 December 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.2977