Hannover 2003 – scientific programme

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Q: Quantenoptik

Q 27: Poster: Quantengase

Q 27.7: Poster

Tuesday, March 25, 2003, 16:30–18:30, Lichthof

Light tells matter how to move and matter tells light how to bend — •Gerrit Nandi, Reinhold Walser, Endre kajari, and Wolfgang P. Schleich — Universität Ulm, Abteilung für Quantenphysik, 89069 Ulm

Light is definitely the most versatile tool to examine and to manipulate gaseous matter. For example, by detecting the phase shift of an optical wave, one can probe almost non-destructively the state of a condensed bosonic gas. In contrast to that, one can design light fields to trap atoms mechanically due to the optical dipole force (e.g. optical lattices, FORT traps etc.). In many situations, it is possible to focus solely on one aspect and to disregard the other.

In this contribution, we are going to study the collective the aspect of light propagation through atomic samples theoretically. In particular, we examine various ways to influence the index of refraction through density variation (i.e. self-focusing [1]) or quantum interference (i.e. EIT [2]).

[1] P. W. Milonni, J. H. Eberly, Lasers, Wiley (1988)

[2] S.E. Harris, Physics Today, 50 (7), 36 (1997)