Near-resonance light scattering from a high-density ultracold atomic87Rb gas

Abstract

We report a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of near-resonance light scattering from a high-density and ultracold atomic 87 Rb gas. The atomic sample, having a peak density ∼5 × 10 13 atoms/cm 3 , temperature ∼65 μK, and initially prepared in the F = 1 lower-energy 87 Rb hyperfine component, is optically pumped to the higher-energy F = 2 hyperfine level. Measurements are made of the transient hyperfine pumping process and of the time evolution of scattering of near-resonance probe radiation on the F = 2 → F = 3 transition. Features of the density, detuning, and temporal dependence of the signals are attributed to the high density and consequent large optical depth of the samples.

Exact electrodynamics versus standard optics for a slab of cold dense gas

“…Several analyses assuming that there is at most one photon present at any time [16,30,54,55] also in effect show that in the limit of low light intensity quantum theory of light-matter interactions reduces to classical electrodynamics. There has been an argument along these lines that found some deviations from the standard EDPM [56]; specifically, a result that was traditionally thought to apply for the displacement was derived for the electric field.…”

“…These methods, whether called classicalelectrodynamics simulations or coupled-dipole simulations, are now a routine theoretical tool [2,4,7,8,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Closely related numerical techniques based on the analysis of the eigenstates of the coupled system of the light and the atoms [15,[27][28][29][30][31][32] or density matrices and quantum trajectories [33][34][35] are also widely used today. Other ideas drawn from the theory of radiative transfer [36,37] and multiple scattering [38,39], enhanced with numerics, also have potential to make inroads into the questions about light propagation in atomic media [40].…”

Optical Resonance Shifts in the Fluorescence of Thermal and Cold Atomic Gases

“…Owing to improving experimental control, the collective radiative interactions have recently experienced a resurge in interest, both in fundamental studies and in the developments of technological applications. Among the systems investigated are cold atoms [17,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27], thin thermal cells [28], photonic crystals [29], metamaterial arrays of nanofabricated resonators [30][31][32], arrays of ions [33], and nanoemitters [34][35][36]. Atoms provide an especially promising system for the studies of collective radiative phenomena, since they make a well-characterized medium with precisely determined radiative resonance frequencies and linewidths, without any true absorption where radiation is lost.…”

Stochastic methods for light propagation and recurrent scattering in saturated and nonsaturated atomic ensembles

“…It has been predicted that correlation phenomena due to light-mediated interactions can emerge in cold atomic ensembles already at surprisingly low atom densities [1]. In particular, in cold alkali-metal atomic gases with densities of over 10 14 cm −3 , the observation of correlated scattering should be achievable [22,31]. Strong dipole-dipole interactions in cold ensembles of highly excited Rydberg atoms [37][38][39][40][41] also provide a possible platform to explore cooperative coupling between atoms.…”

“…Spectroscopic experiments can now be performed with optically dense atomic ensembles at increasing atom densities [22,[31][32][33][34][35][36]. It has been predicted that correlation phenomena due to light-mediated interactions can emerge in cold atomic ensembles already at surprisingly low atom densities [1].…”