Optical properties of a Bose condensate of ${\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}$ atoms tightly confined to a harmonic oscillator potential are studied. A resonantly illuminated condensate scatters as much light as x independent atoms, where x depends on the size of the condensate and on the wavelength of light but not on ${\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}$ ; the linewidth of the resonance is ${\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}$ /x times larger than the linewidth of an individual constituent atom. If the condensate is bigger than a wavelength, light is predominantly scattered in the forward direction.Optical properties of a Bose condensate of ${\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}$ atoms tightly confined to a harmonic oscillator potential are studied. A resonantly illuminated condensate scatters as much light as x independent atoms, where x depends on the size of the condensate and on the wavelength of light but not on ${\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}$; the linewidth of the resonance is ${\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}$/x times larger than the linewidth of an individual constituent atom. If the condensate is bigger than a wavelength, light is predominantly scattered in the forward direction.

Physical Review LettersApr 11, 1994123 citations

Optical properties of a Bose condensate of

{\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}

atoms tightly confined to a harmonic oscillator potential are studied. A resonantly illuminated condensate scatters as much light as x independent atoms, where x depends on the size of the condensate and on the wavelength of light but not on

{\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}

; the linewidth of the resonance is

{\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}

/x times larger than the linewidth of an individual constituent atom. If the condensate is bigger than a wavelength, light is predominantly scattered in the forward direction.