The Localization of Light

John F. Clauser

Clinton Thompson, Gautam Vemuri, G. S. Agarwal

We report a theoretical study of Anderson localization of nonclassical light with emphasis on the quantum statistical aspects of localized light. We demonstrate, from the variance in mean intensity of localized light, as well as site-to-site correlations, that the localized light carries signatures of quantum statistics of input light. For comparison, we also present results for input light with coherent field statistics and thermal field statistics. Our results show that there is an enhancement in fluctuations of localized light due to the medium's disorder. We also find superbunching of the localized light, which may be useful for enhancing the interaction between radiation and matter. Another important consequence of sub-Poissonian statistics of the incoming light is to quench the total fluctuations at the output. Finally, we compare the effects of Gaussian and Rectangular distributions for the disorder, and show that Gaussian disorder accelerates the localization of light.

Steven S. Andrews

Noel Araujo Moreira

A blue sky, a white cloud or a red sunset are explained by classical multiple scattering theory of light. However, these phenomena neglect interference occurrence. Once it is taken into account, interference in a disordered medium may actually put a halt to the propagation of light, an effect known as Anderson Localization. Until now, experimental reports of Anderson Localization of light in 3D systems have not been conclusive. Our goal is to understand what are the underlying obstacles, and look for new insights from a theoretical point of view. In this dissertation, the properties of a cloud of two-level atoms scattering light are investigated. The dipole-dipole interaction generates collective modes, some of them, being localized. We found that finite-size effects dominate the lifetime of the localized modes, specifically by the ratio of localization length to their distance to the system boundaries. Localized modes saturates at maximum of 20% even above phase transition. Studying the steady-state regime, the coupling between localized modes and light is weak. Both results agrees with the difficulty of experimental evidence of light localization and promote the link of experiments and theory.

Igor M. Sokolov

We report on results of theoretical analysis of possibilities of light strong (Anderson) localization in a cold atomic ensemble. We predict appearance of localization in dense atomic systems in strong magnetic field. We prove that in absence of the field the light localization is impossible.

Ian S. Osborne