Bose-Einstein Condensation of Dark-State Polaritons

Gor Nikoghosyan, Frank Zimmer, Martin Bodo Plenio

Y. Yamamoto

G. Nikoghosyan, Frank Zimmer, Martin Bodo Plenio

We put forth and discuss in detail a scheme to achieve Bose-Einstein condensation of stationary-light dark-state polaritons with dipolar interaction. To this end we introduce a diamondlike coupling scheme in a vapor of Rydberg atoms under the frozen gas approximation. To determine the system's dynamics we employ normal modes and identify the dark-state polariton corresponding to one of the modes. We show that in contrast to atomic dipolar ultracold vapors, the dark-state polariton Bose-Einstein condensates proposed here can be stable for a negative dipolar interaction constant.

Michael Fleischhauer, Johannes Otterbach, Razmik G. Unanyan

We propose and analyze a mechanism for Bose-Einstein condensation of stationary dark-state polaritons. Dark-state polaritons (DSPs) are formed in the interaction of light with laser-driven 3-level Lambda-type atoms and are the basis of phenomena such as electromagnetically induced transparency, ultraslow, and stored light. They have long intrinsic lifetimes and in a stationary setup, a 3D quadratic dispersion profile with variable effective mass. Since DSPs are bosons, they can undergo a Bose-Einstein condensation at a critical temperature which can be many orders of magnitude larger than that of atoms. We show that thermalization of polaritons can occur via elastic collisions mediated by a resonantly enhanced optical Kerr nonlinearity on a time scale short compared to the decay time. Finally, condensation can be observed by turning stationary into propagating polaritons and monitoring the emitted light.

Y. Yamamoto, Hui Deng, H. Haug

Michael Fleischhauer, Johannes Otterbach, Razmik G. Unanyan

The generation of stationary distributions of light with three-dimensional confinement is discussed and a novel scheme for Bose-Einstein condensation of the associated quasi-particles, dark-state polaritons (DSP), is proposed. DSPs are created in the Raman interaction of laser fields with atoms and are the basis of ultra-slow, stopped, and stationary light. Stationary DSPs have a quadratic dispersion profile with very small and variable effective mass and have a long intrinsic lifetime. Due to the small mass the corresponding condensation temperature can be many orders of magnitude higher than that of atoms. After introducing stationary dark-state polaritons their incoherent generation and thermalization is discussed and conditions for condensation analyzed. Finally potential methods for an experimental observation of the condensation will be put forward.