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arXiv · 1610.03203

Large Fizeau's light-dragging effect in a moving electromagnetically induced transparent medium

Pei-Chen Kuan·Chang Huang·Wei Sheng Chan·Sandoko Kosen·Shau-Yu Lan
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Abstract

As one of the most influential experiments on the development of modern macroscopic theory from Newtonian mechanics to Einstein's special theory of relativity, the phenomenon of light dragging in a moving medium has been discussed and observed extensively in different types of systems. To have a significant dragging effect, the long duration of light travelling in the medium is preferred. Here we demonstrate a light-dragging experiment in an electromagnetically induced transparent cold atomic ensemble and enhance the dragging effect by at least three orders of magnitude compared with the previous experiments. With a large enhancement of the dragging effect, we realize an atom-based velocimeter that has a sensitivity two orders of magnitude higher than the velocity width of the atomic medium used. Such a demonstration could pave the way for motional sensing using the collective state of atoms in a room temperature vapour cell or solid state material.

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Pei-Chen Kuan, Chang Huang, Wei Sheng Chan, Sandoko Kosen, Shau-Yu Lan. 2016-10-11. Large Fizeau's light-dragging effect in a moving electromagnetically induced transparent medium. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13030

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