Einstein's theory of special relativity and the principle of causality imply that the speed of any moving object cannot exceed that of light in a vacuum (c). Nevertheless, there exist various proposals for observing faster-than-c propagation of light pulses, using anomalous dispersion near an absorption line, nonlinear and linear gain lines, or tunnelling barriers. However, in all previous experimental demonstrations, the light pulses experienced either very large absorption or severe reshaping, resulting in controversies over the interpretation. Here we use gain-assisted linear anomalous dispersion to demonstrate superluminal light propagation in atomic caesium gas. The group velocity of a laser pulse in this region exceeds c and can even become negative, while the shape of the pulse is preserved. We measure a group-velocity index of n(g) = -310(+/- 5); in practice, this means that a light pulse propagating through the atomic vapour cell appears at the exit side so much earlier than if it had propagated the same distance in a vacuum that the peak of the pulse appears to leave the cell before entering it. The observed superluminal light pulse propagation is not at odds with causality, being a direct consequence of classical interference between its different frequency components in an anomalous dispersion region.

We introduce a hybrid technique that combines the robustness of frequency-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) with the advantages of time-resolved CARS spectroscopy. Instantaneous coherent broadband excitation of several characteristic molecular vibrations and the subsequent probing of these vibrations by an optimally shaped time-delayed narrowband laser pulse help to suppress the nonresonant background and to retrieve the species-specific signal. We used this technique for coherent Raman spectroscopy of sodium dipicolinate powder, which is similar to calcium dipicolinate (a marker molecule for bacterial endospores, such as Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus anthracis), and we demonstrated a rapid and highly specific detection scheme that works even in the presence of multiple scattering.

Anomalous dispersion cannot occur in a transparent passive medium where electromagnetic radiation is being absorbed at all frequencies, as pointed out by Landau and Lifshitz. Here we show, both theoretically and experimentally, that transparent linear anomalous dispersion can occur when a gain doublet is present. Therefore, a superluminal light pulse propagation can be observed even at a negative group velocity through a transparent medium with almost no pulse distortion. Consequently, a negative transit time is experimentally observed resulting in the peak of the incident light pulse to exit the medium even before entering it. This counterintuitive effect is a direct result of the rephasing process owing to the wave nature of light and is not at odds with either causality or Einstein's theory of special relativity.

The need for molecular standoff detection has motivated the development of a remotely pumped, high gain air laser that produces lasing in the backward direction and can sample the air as the beam returns. High gain is achieved in the near infrared following pumping with a focused ultraviolet laser. The pumping mechanism is simultaneous resonant two-photon dissociation of molecular oxygen and resonant two-photon pumping of the atomic oxygen fragments. The high gain from the millimeter length focal zone leads to equally strong lasing in the forward and backward directions. Further backward amplification is achieved using prior laser spark dissociation.