Polarization dynamics in a photon Bose-Einstein condensate

Abstract

It has previously been shown that a dye-filled microcavity can produce a Bose-Einstein condensate of photons. Thermalization of photons is possible via repeated absorption and re-emission by the dye molecules. In this paper, we theoretically explore the behavior of the polarization of light in this system. We find that in contrast to the near complete thermalization between different spatial modes of light, thermalization of polarization states is expected to generally be incomplete. We show that the polarization degree changes significantly from below to above threshold, and explain the dependence of polarization on all relevant material parameters.

Interplay of coherent and dissipative dynamics in condensates of light

“…Whereas no significant polarisation of the photon BEC was found in the original Bonn experiment [5], recent systematic measurements of the Stokes parameters in Utrecht [83] indicate that the polarisation of the photon BEC correlates with the polarisation of the pump pulse. These new experimental results together with the recent theoretical investigation in the BEC case [41] offer the prospect that the polarisation dependency could be investigated on the basis of an extension of our microscopic model during the whole crossover from the photon BEC to the laser-like phase.…”

Cooperative phase transitions in a system of photons and dye molecules

“…At this point it is useful to note the differences between the present analysis of the con-densate polarization and the one conducted in Ref. [32]. The focus of Ref.…”

“…The focus of Ref. [32] is on the early stages of the kinetics of the condensate formation -before the quasi-condensate appears.…”

“…(23), with x determined from Eq. It is worth noting that the phase separation does not require that the free energy (32) becomes zero for η = 0. It is enough that f gc acquires a metastable solution (spinodal).…”

Anisotropic Superfluidity in a Weakly Interacting Condensate of Quasi‐2D Photons

“…It should be noted that in the current consideration we have neglected the spin (polarization) degree of freedom, while in general, photon condensates are spinor condensates. [1,30] The spinless approximation is however justified as we expect that when there is a mirrors anisotropy with regard to in-plane directions, the condensate will be formed in one linear polarization (perpendicular to the cavity modulation direction). More precise investigation of this fact lies out of the scope of this paper.…”