Related papers: Coherent light propagation through cold atomic clo…
We interpret cooperative scattering by a collection of cold atoms as a multiple scattering process. Starting from microscopic equations describing the response of $N$ atoms to a probe light beam, we represent the total scattered field as an…
When a cold atomic gas is illuminated by a quasi-resonant laser beam, light-induced dipole-dipole correlations make the scattering of light a cooperative process. Once a fluid description is adopted for the atoms, many scattering properties…
We theoretically study the propagation of light through a cold atomic medium, where the effects of motion, laser intensity, atomic density, and polarization can all modify the properties of the scattered light. We present two different…
A cloud of cold N two-level atoms driven by a resonant laser beam shows cooperative effects both in the scattered radiation field and in the radiation pressure force acting on the cloud center-of-mass. The induced dipoles synchronize and…
Collective effects in atom-light interaction is of great importance for cold-atom-based quantum devices or fundamental studies on light transport in complex media. Here we discuss and compare three different approaches to light scattering…
It is shown that homogeneous line-broadening in a diffuse cold atom cloud is proportional to the resonant optical depth of the cloud. Further, it is demonstrated how the strong directionality of the coherent interactions causes the cloud's…
We measure the coherent scattering of light by a cloud of laser-cooled atoms with a size comparable to the wavelength of light. By interfering a laser beam tuned near an atomic resonance with the field scattered by the atoms we observe a…
With ready access to massive computer clusters we may now study light propagation in a dense cold atomic gas by means of basically exact numerical simulations. We report on a direct comparison between traditional optics, that is,…
We describe propagation of light in a gas with periodic density modulation, demonstrating photonic-crystal-like refraction with negative refraction angles. We address the role of poorly defined boundaries and damping, and derive an optical…
Coherent effects manifested in light scattering from cold, optically dense and disordered atomic systems are reviewed from a primarily theoretical point of view. Development of the basic theoretical tools is then elaborated through several…
On the basis of general theoretical results developed previously in JETP 112, 246 (2011) we analyze the atomic polarization created by weak monochromatic light in an optically thick, dense and cold atomic ensemble. We show that the…
Light propagating in an optically thick sample experiences multiple scattering. It is now known that interferences alter this propagation, leading to an enhanced backscattering, a manifestation of weak localization of light in such diffuse…
We measure the coherent scattering of low-intensity, near-resonant light by a cloud of laser-cooled two-level rubidium atoms with a size comparable to the wavelength of light. We isolate a two-level atomic structure by applying a 300G…
We experimentally demonstrate coherent light scattering from an atomic Mott insulator in a two-dimensional lattice. The far-field diffraction pattern of small clouds of a few hundred atoms was imaged while simultaneously laser cooling the…
A gas of ultracold atoms probed with laser light is a nearly-ideal experimental realization of a medium of resonant point-like scatterers, a key problem from condensed matter to biology or photonics. Yet, several recent experiments have…
Partially coherent light is abundant in many physical systems, and its propagation properties are well understood. Here we extend current theory of propagation of partially coherent light beams to the field of coherent diffusion. Based on a…
A combined experimental and theoretical investigation of time- and alignment-dependent propagation of light in an ultracold atomic gas of atomic $^{85}$Rb is reported. Coherences among the scattering amplitudes for light scattering off…
Self-similar solutions of the coherent diffusion equation are derived and measured. The set of real similarity solutions is generalized by the introduction of a nonuniform phase surface, based on the elegant Gaussian modes of optical…
We analyze the emergence of correlated optical phenomena in the transmission of light through a waveguide that confines classical or ultracold quantum degenerate atomic ensembles. The conditions of the correlated collective response are…
We develop a field theory approach to light propagation in a gas of resonant atoms taking into account vector character of light and atom-atom interactions. Within this approach, we calculate the propagator of the electric field for both…