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Open Physics

Coherent manipulation of light dragging in a moving microcavity using tunable dispersion in an atomic medium

Inam Ullah, Najm Uddin, Latif Ur Rahman, Ali Akgül

Published Jan 1, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The Fresnel light dragging effect has remained a subject of significant interest for over two centuries, describing the modification of light propagation in a moving medium. This effect is strongly influenced by the dispersive properties of the medium and is commonly manifested through the phase shift of transmitted light, which varies with the velocity of the medium. In this work, we investigate the phase shift induced by varying the velocity of a moving microcavity. Our results show that a phase shift of approximately 10 m rad is obtained at a velocity of 2 m/s, which increases to about 40 m rad as the velocity reaches 10 m/s. Additionally, the motion of the microcavity significantly affects the transmission of the probe field, leading to measurable perturbations that depend on the induced phase shift. Specifically, the perturbation increases from 0.004 at 2 m/s to 0.02 at 10 m/s. These findings demonstrate that increasing the velocity of the medium enhances the light dragging effect, resulting in a greater modification of light propagation compared to its behavior in a vacuum. This study provides valuable insight into the control of light–matter interaction in dynamic optical systems and its potential applications in advanced photonic technologies.

DOI
10.1515/phys-2025-0298

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Abstract The Fresnel light dragging effect has remained a subject of significant interest for over two centuries, describing the modification of light propagation in a moving medium. This effect is strongly influenced by the dispersive properties of the medium and is commonly manifested through the phase shift of transmitted light, which varies with the velocity of the medium. In this work, we investigate the phase shift induced by varying the velocity of a moving microcavity. Our results show that a phase shift of approximately 10 m rad is obtained at a velocity of 2 m/s, which increases to about 40 m rad as the velocity reaches 10 m/s. Additionally, the motion of the microcavity significantly affects the transmission of the probe field, leading to measurable perturbations that depend on the induced phase shift. Specifically, the perturbation increases from 0.004 at 2 m/s to 0.02 at 10 m/s. These findings demonstrate that increasing the velocity of the medium enhances the light dragging effect, resulting in a greater modification of light propagation compared to its behavior in a vacuum. This study provides valuable insight into the control of light–matter interaction in dynamic optical systems and its potential applications in advanced photonic technologies.
Abstract Fizeau’s experiment, inspiring Einstein’s special theory of relativity, reveals a small dragging effect acting on light inside a moving medium. Dispersion can enhance such light drag according to Lorentz’s predication. Here fast- and slow-light-enhanced light drag is demonstrated experimentally in a moving optical microcavity through stimulated Brillouin scattering induced transparency and absorption. The strong dispersion provides an enhancement factor up to ~104, greatly reducing the system size down to the micrometer range. These results may offer a unique platform for a compact, integrated solution to motion sensing and ultrafast signal processing applications.
Abstract We address the coherent regulation of Fizeau's light dragging effect in a five-level atomic medium using the exploitation of joint strong control and weak probing fields. The strength of Fizeau's light dragging, as well as the phase velocity and group index, exhibit a strong reliance upon the detuning of the probing type field and the associated Rabi type frequencies of the control fields. The maximum coefficient for Fizeau's light dragging is determined to be ± 500. This phenomenon significantly affects the phase along with the group velocities and induces a phase shift in light pulses propagating through the medium. Besides, the phase shift with maximum strength of light pulse in the medium is found to be ± 0.08 radians. Finally, it is important to note that our findings hold practical implications for applications such as interferometry, imaging coding, and the development of cloaking devices.
We theoretically study how the phase of a light plane wave propagating in a resonant medium under electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is affected by the uniform motion of the medium. For cuprous oxide (Cu2O), where EIT can be implemented through a typical pump-probe configuration, the resonant probe beam experiences a phase shift (Fresnel-Fizeau effect) that may vary over a wide range of values, positive or negative, and even vanishing, due to the combined effects of the strong frequency dispersion and anisotropy both induced by the pump. The use of such a coherently driven dragging medium may improve by at least 1 order of magnitude the sensitivity at low velocity in optical drag experiments.
Fizeau experiment, inspiring Einstein's special theory of relativity, reveals a small dragging effect of light inside a moving medium. Dispersion can enhance such light drag according to Lorentz's predication. Here we experimentally demonstrate slow and fast light enhanced light drag in a moving optical microcavity through stimulated Brillouin scattering induced transparency and absorption. The strong dispersion provides an enhancement factor up to ~10^4, greatly reducing the system size down to the micrometer range. These results may offer a unique platform for a compact, integrated solution to motion sensing and ultrafast signal processing applications.
Abstract Light-matter interaction between a light field and an atomic medium could be used to manipulate the medium’s dispersive properties, leading to subluminal and superluminal regimes. Utilizing the same idea, this work investigates the propagation of structured superluminal light and anomalous phase shifts in a Λ- type three-level atomic medium, where a structured control field governs the atomic system. The absorption and dispersion properties are modulated by the azimuthal quantum number (ℓ) of the control field. The maxima and minima of the absorption spectrum, along with the corresponding normal and anomalous dispersion peaks, are enhanced with a (2ℓ) dependence on the azimuthal quantum number in the medium. The negative group index and anomalous phase shift vary within the ranges −1000 ≤ ng ≤ −900 and −6.5 × 10 5 ≤ ϕ ≤ −5.6 × 10 5 rad, respectively. The corresponding group velocity lies in the range −3.33 × 10 5 ≤ vg ≤ −3.0 × 10 5 m/s within the spatial region −2λ ≤ x, y ≤ 2λ. Furthermore, the anomalous phase shift is significantly enhanced in regions exhibiting superluminal behavior, following the (2ℓ) azimuthal quantum number dependence. The findings of this work may have potential applications in optical storage devices, imaging, coding, and the design of advanced photonic technologies.
As one of the most influential experiments on the development of modern macroscopic theory from Newtonian mechanics to Einstein's special theory of relativity, the phenomenon of light dragging in a moving medium has been discussed and observed extensively in different types of systems. To have a significant dragging effect, the long duration of light travelling in the medium is preferred. Here we demonstrate a light-dragging experiment in an electromagnetically induced transparent cold atomic ensemble and enhance the dragging effect by at least three orders of magnitude compared with the previous experiments. With a large enhancement of the dragging effect, we realize an atom-based velocimeter that has a sensitivity two orders of magnitude higher than the velocity width of the atomic medium used. Such a demonstration could pave the way for motional sensing using the collective state of atoms in a room temperature vapour cell or solid state material.