Theory of light and atom scattering in the Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas

A semiclassical theory of superradiant light scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas is developed without recourse to the mean field approximation. The dynamics and spectrum of superradiant field, as well as the kinetics of formation of coherent atomic states with various translational momenta are calculated. The results are qualitatively consistent with experimental data for atoms scattered in the backward direction relative to that of the exciting laser beam propagation.     

Superradiant rayleigh scattering and collective atomic recoil lasing in a ring cavity

Collective interaction of light with an atomic gas can give rise to superradiant instabilities. We experimentally study the sudden buildup of a reverse light field in a laser-driven high-finesse ring cavity filled with ultracold thermal or Bose-Einstein condensed atoms. While superradiant Rayleigh scattering from atomic clouds is normally observed only at very low temperatures (i.e., well below 1 microK), the presence of the ring cavity enhances cooperativity and allows for superradiance with thermal clouds as hot as several 10 microK. A characterization of the superradiance at various temperatures and cooperativity parameters allows us to link it to the collective atomic recoil laser.     

Opto-Mechanical Effects in Superradiant Light Scattering by Bose-Einstein Condensate in an Optical Cavity

We investigate the effects of a movable mirror (cantilever) of an optical cavity on the superradiant light scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in an optical lattice. We show that the mirror motion has a dynamic dispersive effect on the cavity-pump detuning. Varying the intensity of the pump beam, one can switch between the pure superradiant regime and the Bragg scattering regime. The mechanical frequency of the mirror strongly influences the time interval between two Bragg peaks. We find that when the system is in the resolved side band regime for mirror cooling, the superradiant scattering is enhanced due to coherent energy transfer from the mechanical mirror mode to the cavity field mode.     

Opto-Mechanical Effects in Superradiant Light Scattering by Bose-Einstein Condensate in an Optical Cavity

We investigate the effects of a movable mirror (cantilever) of an optical cavity on the superradiant light scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in an optical lattice. We show that the mirror motion has a dynamic dispersive effect on the cavity-pump detuning. Varying the intensity of the pump beam, one can switch between the pure superradiant regime and the Bragg scattering regime. The mechanical frequency of the mirror strongly influences the time interval between two Bragg peaks. We find that when the system is in the resolved side band regime for mirror cooling, the superradiant scattering is enhanced due to coherent energy transfer from the mechanical mirror mode to the cavity field mode.     

Superfluorescent rayleigh scattering from suspensions of dielectric particles

We demonstrate that superfluorescent scattering of light can occur when laser light is incident on a collection of dielectric Rayleigh particles suspended in a viscous medium. Using a linear stability analysis, an expression for the spatiotemporal evolution of the scattered (probe) field is derived. An approximate condition for the progression of the interaction into the nonlinear regime is deduced and it is shown that, in the nonlinear regime, the scattered field intensity shows the characteristic quadratic dependence on particle density expected from a superfluorescent or superradiant process, once the effects of pump depletion are accounted for.     

Superradiant Rayleigh scattering of high-intensity short light pulses from a Bose-Einstein condensate of dilute atomic gases

Equations of a semiclassical model of superradiant Rayleigh scattering of high-intensity short light pulses from a Bose-Einstein condensate of dilute atomic gases are solved numerically taking into account the excitation of atoms by coherent Rayleigh radiation and their recoil in the backward direction. The evolution of the populations of coherent atomic states with a particular momentum is studied, and the pulse shape and the structure of the spectrum of such scattering are found in relation to the laser beam intensity and the recoil kinetic energy of atoms.     

Maxwell-Schrödinger equations for a dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to an electromagnetic field

We give a general formulation of the semiclassical approach to solving the problem of interaction between a Bose-Einstein condensate of dilute gas and electromagnetic radiation without using the commonly applied mean-field approximation. We suggest variants of the systems of Maxwell-Schrödinger equations whose solution describes such effects as superradiant light scattering, light beam amplification, atomic wave (atomic laser) amplification, induced transparency, and reduction in the group velocity of light.     

Semiclassical theory of superradiant scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate

A semiclassical theory of superradiant scattering of light from a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute atomic gas is proposed. Choosing atomic states with definite values of the momenta as a basis, we derive a nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Its solutions describe the evolution of the scattered light intensity and of the populations of the coherent atomic states with different recoil momenta.     

Superradiant scattering of light from a Bose-Einstein condensate of dilute atomic gases

A generalization of the semiclassical model of superradiant scattering of light from a Bose-Einstein condensate of dilute atomic gases is proposed. A number of effects connected with the backward recoil of atoms in this scattering are explained.     

Superradiant light scattering from thermal atomic vapors

Superradiant light scattering from noncondensed, thermal atomic vapors was experimentally studied. We found that superradiant gain is independent of quantum degeneracy and determined only by the shape of the atomic cloud and a contained number of atoms. Superradiant pump-probe spectroscopy was also developed to measure the atomic correlation function, revealing the Doppler-width-limited coherence time of the thermal gas and sudden buildup of long-lived coherence below the transition temperature.     

Transverse effects in collective atomic recoil lasing

We investigate transverse effects in collective atomic recoil lasing (CARL), where a cold atomic sample is lightened by a far detuned laser beam resonant with the internal atomic transition. The gradient force of the scattered radiation field produces a collective self-focusing on the atoms, which could be observed in a Bose-Einstein condensate stored in a bidirectional optical ring cavity or in the superradiant CARL-BEC regime.     

On the theory of superradiant scattering of light from a Bose-Einstein condensate of dilute atomic gases

The theory of superradiant scattering of light from a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute atomic gas, which was earlier proposed by one of the authors, is used to study the spectral-kinetic characteristics of scattered radiation and the evolution of populations of coherent atomic states.     

Phase-sensitive detection of bragg scattering at 1D optical lattices

We report on the observation of Bragg scattering at 1D atomic lattices. Cold atoms are confined by optical dipole forces at the antinodes of a standing wave generated by the two counterpropagating modes of a laser-driven high-finesse ring cavity. By heterodyning the Bragg-scattered light with a reference beam, we obtain detailed information on phase shifts imparted by the Bragg scattering process. Being deep in the Lamb-Dicke regime, the scattered light is not broadened by the motion of individual atoms.     

The quantum acousto-optic effect in Bose-Einstein condensate

We investigate the interaction between a single mode light field and an elongated cigar shaped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), subject to a temporal modulation of the trap frequency in the tight confinement direction. Under appropriate conditions, the longitudinal sound like waves (Faraday waves) in the direction of weak confinement acts as a dynamic diffraction grating for the incident light field analogous to the acousto-optic effect in classical optics. The change in the refractive index due to the periodic modulation of the BEC density is responsible for the acousto-optic effect. The dynamics is characterised by Bragg scattering of light from the matter wave Faraday grating and simultaneous Bragg scattering of the condensate atoms from the optical grating formed due to the interference between the incident light and the diffracted light fields. Varying the intensity of the incident laser beam we observe the transition from the acousto-optic effect regime to the atomic Bragg scattering regime, where Rabi oscillations between two momentum levels of the atoms are observed. We show that the acousto-optic effect is reduced as the atomic interaction is increased.     

Tuning the scattering length with an optically induced Feshbach resonance

We demonstrate optical tuning of the scattering length in a Bose-Einstein condensate as predicted by Fedichev et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 2913 (1996)]. In our experiment, atoms in a 87Rb condensate are exposed to laser light which is tuned close to the transition frequency to an excited molecular state. By controlling the power and detuning of the laser beam we can change the atomic scattering length over a wide range. In view of laser-driven atomic losses, we use Bragg spectroscopy as a fast method to measure the scattering length of the atoms.     

Particular features of acousto-optic visualization in scattering media upon detection of nonballistic light

Images of optically inhomogeneous objects immersed into a cell with a scattering liquid through which orthogonal laser and ultrasonic beams pass are obtained upon measuring the scattered light modulated at the ultrasonic frequency. The alternating current from a photodetector recording the optical radiation emerging from the cell was used as a parameter of the acousto-optic visualization. The quality of the visualization is analyzed in relation to the registration conditions and the scattering parameter magnitude, as well as the size and shape of three-dimensional and planar objects. Under the experimental conditions used, the positions of objects immersed into the scattering liquid are detected fairly precisely, with a satisfactory contrast and sharpness of images in the plane perpendicular to the laser beam axis, whereas, along this axis, the object positions are not determined. The experiment was performed under conditions of transition from a regime without scattering to a regime of multiple scattering.     

Modification of radiation pressure due to cooperative scattering of light

Cooperative spontaneous emission of a single photon from a cloud of N atoms modifies substantially the radiation pressure exerted by a far-detuned laser beam exciting the atoms. On one hand, the force induced by photon absorption depends on the collective decay rate of the excited atomic state. On the other hand, directional spontaneous emission counteracts the recoil induced by the absorption. We derive an analytical expression for the radiation pressure in steady-state. For a smooth extended atomic distribution we show that the radiation pressure depends on the atom number via cooperative scattering and that, for certain atom numbers, it can be suppressed or enhanced. Cooperative scattering of light by extended atomic clouds can become important in the presence of quasi-resonant light and could be addressed in many cold atoms experiments.     

Holographic storage of multiple coherence gratings in a Bose-Einstein condensate

We demonstrate superradiant conversion between a two-mode collective atomic state and a single-mode light field in an elongated cloud of Bose-condensed atoms. Two off-resonant write beams induce superradiant Raman scattering, producing two independent coherence gratings with different wave vectors in the cloud. By applying phase-matched read beams after a controllable delay, the gratings can be selectively converted into the light field also in a superradiant way. Because of the large optical density and the small velocity width of the condensate, a high conversion efficiency of >70% and a long storage time of >120 micros were achieved.