Angular momentum dynamics in two-atom superradiance

P. R. Berman, Zeyuan Wang, A. Kuzmich

Two-atom superradiance is studied for atoms having a J=0 ground state and a J=1 excited state. The atoms lie on the x-axis and are excited by a σ_{+}-polarized laser pulse propagating in the z-direction. We use two, complementary approaches to obtain the final angular momentum in the field, a source-field approach and a Schrodinger picture approach. Both approaches give identical answers, but it is necessary to include terms in both calculations that, at first glance, might not be expected to contribute. We show that, owing to an exchange between a state in which atom 1 is in its m=1 excited state and atom 2 is in its ground state to one in which atom 2 is in its m=-1 excited state and atom 1 in its ground state, the final angular momentum in the field is not necessarily equal to the initial angular momentum in the two-atom system. The missing angular momentum appears as orbital angular momentum of the two atoms.

Igor Ferrier-Barbut

P. R. Berman

The radiation pattern emitted by two atoms, interacting with each other via the vacuum radiation field, has been calculated, including effects of magnetic state degeneracy for atoms with a ground state having G=0 angular momentum and an excited state having H=1 angular momentum. For an initial condition in which both atoms are inverted, the time-integrated radiation pattern is identical to that for non-interacting atoms if the atoms lie on the z-axis, but differs if the atoms lie on the x-axis. The underlying dynamics giving rise to this behavior are examined.

Igor Sokolov, Evgenii Dmitrievich Trifonov

Игорь Евгеньевич Проценко

Mehmet Emre Taşgın, Özgür Esat Müstecaplıoğlu, Li You

The creation of a topological vortex by a superradiant scattering of a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam off an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is theoretically investigated. It is shown that scattered superradiant radiation can be either in a Gaussian mode without angular momentum or in a LG mode with angular momentum. The conditions leading to these two qualitatively distinct regimes of superradiance are determined in terms of the width for the pump laser and the condensate size for the limiting cases where the recoil energy is both much smaller and larger than the atomic interaction energy.