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arXiv:cond-mat/0206104 · Physical Review A

In situvelocity imaging of ultracold atoms using slow light

M. Artoni, Iacopo Carusotto

Published Jan 29, 2003• 17 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The optical response of a moving medium suitably driven into a slow-light propagation regime strongly depends on its velocity. This effect can be used to devise a scheme for imaging ultraslow velocity fields. The scheme turns out to be amenable to study in situ the dynamics of collective and topological excitations of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate. We illustrate how slow-light imaging works specifically for sloshing oscillations and bent vortices in a stirred condensate.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.67.011602

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The optical response of a moving medium suitably driven into a slow-light propagation regime strongly depends on its velocity. This effect can be used to devise a scheme for imaging ultraslow velocity fields. The scheme turns out to be amenable to study in situ the dynamics of collective and topological excitations of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate. We illustrate how slow-light imaging works specifically for sloshing oscillations and bent vortices in a stirred condensate.
We theoretically investigate the effect of atomic recoil on the propagation of ultraslow light pulses through a coherently driven Bose-Einstein condensed gas. For a sample at rest, the group velocity of the light pulse is the sum of the group velocity that one would observe in the absence of mechanical effects (infinite mass limit) and the velocity of the recoiling atoms (light-dragging effect). We predict that atomic recoil may give rise to a lower bound for the observable group velocities, as well as to pulse propagation at negative group velocities without appreciable absorption.
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In the framework of the nonlinear Λ-model we investigate propagation of a slow-light soliton in atomic vapours and Bose–Einstein condensates. The velocity of the slow-light soliton is controlled by a time-dependent background field created by a controlling laser. For a fairly arbitrary time dependence of the field we find the dynamics of the slow-light soliton inside the medium. We provide an analytical description for the nonlinear dependence of the velocity of the signal on the controlling field. If the background field is turned off at some moment of time, the signal stops. We find the location and shape of the spatially localized memory bit imprinted into the medium. We show that the process of writing optical information can be described in terms of scattering data for the underlying scattering problem.
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In the framework of the nonlinear ΛΛΛ-model we investigate propagation of a slow-light soliton in atomic vapors and Bose-Einstein condensates. The velocity of the slow-light soliton is controlled by a time-dependent background field created by a controlling laser. For a fairly arbitrary time dependence of the field we find the dynamics of the slow-light soliton inside the medium. We provide an analytical description for the nonlinear dependence of the velocity of the signal on the controlling field. If the background field is turned off at some moment of time, the signal stops. We find the location and shape of the spatially localized memory bit imprinted into the medium. We show that the process of writing optical information can be described in terms of scattering data for the underlying scattering problem.
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