Abstract
We analyze the temporal response of the fluorescence light that is emitted from a dense gas of cold atoms driven by a laser. When the average interatomic distance is comparable to the wavelength of the photons scattered by the atoms, the system exhibits strong dipolar interactions and collective dissipation. We solve the exact dynamics of small systems with different geometries and show how these collective features are manifest in the scattered light properties such as the photon emission rate, the power spectrum and the second-order correlation function. By calculating these quantities beyond the weak (linear) driving limit, we make progress in understanding the signatures of collective behavior in these many-body systems. Furthermore, we shed light on the role of disorder and averaging on the resonance fluorescence, of direct relevance for recent experimental efforts that aim at the exploration of many-body effects in dipole–dipole interacting gases of atoms.
Highlights
Strong dipole–dipole interactions are induced in a gas of emitters due to virtual exchange of photons when the average distance between the emitters is comparable to the wavelength associated to the emitted photons
Theoretical works so far have been constrained to the study of the limit of very weak driving [17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29], small systems of two or three atoms [30,31,32,33,34,35] or dilute gases under strong driving conditions [36]
These, do not provide a complete picture and leave a number of unanswered questions: (A) How does the presence of strong laser driving affect the signatures of cooperativity detectable in the fluorescence
Summary
Strong dipole–dipole interactions are induced in a gas of emitters due to virtual exchange of photons when the average distance between the emitters is comparable to the wavelength associated to the emitted photons. We tackle the above questions in this paper by performing a detailed theoretical analysis of the excitation number, photon emission rate, power spectrum and secondorder correlations of the far-field fluorescence from a resonantly driven gas of two-level atoms in the stationary state. We perform this task by solving numerically for the first time the exact dynamics of small atomic systems of up to 7 atoms for a broad range of values of the laser driving. While some characteristics remain unchanged with respect to the disordered 3D gas, such as the suppression of emission at high densities, finite size effects play an important role here, e.g. in the photon emission correlations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
