We investigate a four-state system interacting with long and short laser pulses in a weak probe beam approximation. We show that when all lasers are tuned to the exact unperturbed resonances, part of the four-wave mixing (FWM) field is strongly absorbed. The part which is not absorbed has the exact intensity required to destructively interfere with the excitation pathway involved in producing the FWM state. We show that with this three-photon destructive interference, the conversion efficiency can still be as high as 25%. Contrary to common belief,our calculation shows that this process, where an ideal one-photon electromagnetically induced transparency is established, is not most suitable for high efficiency conversion. With appropriate phase-matching and propagation distance, and when the three-photon destructive interference does not occur, we show that the photon flux conversion efficiency is independent of probe intensity and can be close to 100%. In addition, we show clearly that the conversion efficiency is not determined by the maximum atomic coherence between two lower excited states, as commonly believed. It is the combination of phase-matching and constructive interference involving the two terms arising in producing the mixing wave that is the key element for the optimized FWM generation. Indeed, in this scheme no appreciable excited state is produced, so that the atomic coherence between states |0> and |2> is always very small.
Electric susceptibility of a laser-dressed atomic medium is calculated for a model Lambda - like system including two lower states and a continuum structured by a presence of an autoionizing state or a continuum with a laser-induced structure. Depending on the strength of a control field it is possible to obtain a significant reduction of the light velocity in a narrow frequency window in the conditions of a small absorption. A smooth transition is shown between the case of a flat continuum and that of a discrete state serving as the upper state of a Lambda system.
We discuss the Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) in lambda, cascade and vee type three-level systems where the Hamiltonian and the Lindblad term of each configuration are expressed in the $SU(3)$ representation. At steady state, the Optical Bloch Equations of each configuration are solved to obtain the dispersion and absorption profiles of the probe field along with their group velocities. When the EIT condition is achieved at resonance, the population oscillation shows which of the bare states are contributing to form the dark state. Our study reveals that the dark state for the …
Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) has mainly been modelled for three-level systems. In particular, a considerable interest has been dedicated to the Lambda-configuration, with two ground states and one excited state. However, in the alkali-metal atoms, which are commonly used, hyperfine interaction in the excited state introduces several levels which simultaneously participate in the scattering process. When the Doppler broadening is comparable with the hyperfine splitting in the upper state, the three-level Lambda model does not reproduce the experimental results. Here we theoret…
We report on the all-optical detection of Rydberg states in a effusive atomic beam of strontium atoms using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Using narrow-linewidth CW lasers we obtain an EIT linewidth of 5 MHz. To illustrate the high spectroscopic resolution offered by this method, we have measured isotope shifts of the 5s18d ^1D_2 and 5s19s ^1S_0 Rydberg states. This technique could be applied to high-resolution, non-destructive measurements of ultra-cold Rydberg gases and plasmas.
In electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT), the absorption of a probe beam is greatly reduced due to destructive interference between two dressed atomic states produced by a strong laser beam. Here we show that a similar reduction in the single-photon absorption rate can be achieved by tuning a probe beam to be halfway between the resonant frequencies of two modes of a cavity. This technique is expected to be useful in enhancing two-photon absorption while reducing losses due to single-photon scattering.
The rigorous dark-sate conditions, i.e., two-photon resonance, for a Lambda-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) are extended with the system controlled by a microwave field. The extended dark-states are found to be extremely sensitive to the phase of the microwave field in a narrow interval. However, the dark-state is no longer the requirement for EIT in this scheme and EIT without dark states is present.
We present an efficient and convenient scheme to entangle multiple optical fields via electromagnetically induced transparency in an atomic ensemble. The atomic spin wave, produced through electromagnetically induced transparency in the Lambda-type configuration in an atomic ensemble, can be described by a Bose operator and acts as the entangler. By using the entangler, any desired number of nondegenerate narrow-band continuous-variable entangled fields, in principle, can be generated through stimulated Raman scattering processes, which holds great promise for applications in scalable quantum …
We have studied electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in diatomic cesium molecules in a vapor cell by using tunable diode lasers. We have observed a sub-natural Lambda-resonance in an absorption molecular band at different cesium vapor pressures. The width of the EIT resonance shows a linear dependence on cesium vapor pressure. Narrow Lambda-resonances in molecules can be used as frequency references for femtosecond laser frequency combs.
Phenomena of electromagnetically induced transparency (PEIT) may be interpreted by the Autler-Townes Splitting (ATS), where the coupled states are split by the coupling laser field, or by the quantum destructive interference (QDI), where the atomic phases caused by the coupling laser and the probe laser field cancel. We propose modulated experiments to explore the PEIT in an alternative way by periodically modulating the coupling and the probe fields in a ?-type three-level system. Our analytical and numerical results rule out the ATS interpretation and show that the QDI interpretation is more…
We have experimentally studied propagation of two optical fields in a dense rubidium (Rb) vapor in the case when an additional microwave field is coupled to the hyperfine levels of Rb atoms. The Rb energy levels form a close-lambda three-level system coupled to the optical fields and the microwave field. It has been found that the maximum transmission of a probe field depends on the relative phase between the optical and the microwave fields. We have observed both constructive and destructive interference in electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). A simple theoretical model and a numer…
Electromagnetically-induced transparency and light storing are studied in the case of a medium of atoms in a double Lambda configuration, both in terms of dark- and bright-state polatitons and atomic susceptibility. It is proven that the medium can be made transparent simultaneously for two pulses following their self-adjusting so that a condition for an adiabatic evolution has become fulfilled. Analytic formulas are given for the shapes and phases of the transmitted/stored pulses. The level of transparency can be regulated by adjusting the heights and phases of the control fields.
We report an absorption spectroscopy experiment and the observation of electromagnetically induced transparency from a single trapped atom. We focus a weak and narrowband Gaussian light beam onto an optically cooled Barium ion using a high numerical aperture lens. Extinction of this beam is observed with measured values of up to 1.3 %. We demonstrate electromagnetically induced transparency of the ion by tuning a strong control beam over a two-photon resonance in a three-level lambda-type system. The probe beam extinction is inhibited by more than 75 % due to population trapping.
We show that a quasi-perfect quantum state transfer between an atomic ensemble and fields in an optical cavity can be achieved in Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT). A squeezed vacuum field state can be mapped onto the long-lived atomic spin associated to the ground state sublevels of the Lambda-type atoms considered. The EIT on-resonance situation show interesting similarities with the Raman off-resonant configuration. We then show how to transfer the atomic squeezing back to the field exiting the cavity, thus realizing a quantum memory-type operation.
Interest in lossless nonlinearities has focussed on the the dispersive properties of $Λ$ systems under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We generalize the lambda system by introducing further degenerate states to realize a `Chain $ Λ$' atom where multiple coupling of the probe field significantly enhances the intensity dependent dispersion without compromising the EIT condition.
We consider the dynamical behavior of a nanomechanical mirror in a high-quality cavity under the action of a coupling laser and a probe laser. We demonstrate the existence of the analog of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in the output field at the probe frequency. Our calculations show explicitly the origin of EIT-like dips as well as the characteristic changes in dispersion from anomalous to normal in the range where EIT dips occur. Remarkably the pump-probe response for the opto mechanical system shares all the features of the Lambda system as discovered by Harris and collabor…
We report characterization of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonances in the D1 line of Rb-87 under various experimental conditions. The dependence of the EIT linewidth on the power of the pump field was investigated, at various temperatures, for the ground states of the lambda-system associated with different hyperfine levels of the atomic 5S_1/2 state as well as magnetic sublevels of the same hyperfine level. Strictly linear behavior was observed in all cases. A theoretical analysis of our results shows that dephasing in the ground state is the main source of decoherence, w…
We have observed CW lasing without inversion in a gas of hot rubidium atoms in an optical cavity under conditions of electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT). The medium is pumped coherently and resonantly by a single ``coupling'' beam which also produces EIT in the lasing transition. The steady-state intensity exhibits thresholds as a function of the atomic density and the strength of the coupling beam. A theoretical model for an effective three-level lambda system indicates that gain without inversion is possible in this system if the two ground states are coupled by depolarizing colli…
We consider an optomechanical cavity made by two moving mirrors which contains a Kerr-down conversion nonlinear crystal. We show that the coherent oscillations of the two mechanical oscil- lators can lead to splitting in the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonance, and appearance of an absorption peak within the transparency window. In this configuration the coher- ent induced splitting of EIT is similar to driving a hyperfine transition in an atomic Lambda-type three-level system by a radio-frequency or microwave field. Also, we show that the presence of non- linearity provid…
We theoretically demonstrate the mechanically mediated electromagnetically induced transparency in a two-mode cavity optomechanical system, where two cavity modes are coupled to a common mechanical resonator. When the two cavity modes are driven on their respective red sidebands by two pump beams, a transparency window appears in the probe transmission spectrum due to destructive interference. Under this situation the transmitted probe beam can be delayed as much as 4 us, which can be easily controlled by the power of the pump beams. In addition, we also investigate the amplification of the tr…
We determine the optical response of a thin and dense layer of interacting quantum emitters. We show that in such a dense system, the Lorentz redshift and the associated interaction broadening can be used to control the transmission and reflection spectra. In the presence of overlapping resonances, a Dipole-Induced Electromagnetic Transparency (DIET) regime, similar to Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), may be achieved. DIET relies on destructive interference between the electromagnetic waves emitted by quantum emitters. Carefully tuning material parameters allows to achieve narro…
The interaction of classical and quantized electromagnetic fields with an ensemble of atoms in an optical cavity is considered. Four fields drive a double-lambda level scheme in the atoms, consisting of a pair of lambda systems sharing the same set of lower levels. Two of the fields produce maximum coherence, rho12 = -1/2, between the ground state sublevels 1 and 2. This pumping scheme involves equal intensity fields that are resonant with both the one and two-photon transitions of the lambda system. There is no steady-state absorption of these fields, implying that the fields induce a type el…
In common sense, postselected weak amplification must be related to destructive interference effect of the meter system, and a single photon exerts no effect on thermal field via cross-phasemodulation (XPM) interaction. In this Letter we present, for the first time, a thermal light cross-Kerr effect. Through analysis, we reveal two unexpected results: i) postselection and weak amplification can be explained at a classical level without destructive interference, and ii) weak amplification and weak value are not one thing. After postselection a new mixed light can be generated which is nonclassi…
A laser cooling method for trapped atoms is described which achieves ground state cooling by exploiting quantum interference in a driven Lambda-shaped arrangement of atomic levels. The scheme is technically simpler than existing methods of sideband cooling, yet it can be significantly more efficient, in particular when several motional modes are involved, and it does not impose restrictions on the transition linewidth. We study the full quantum mechanical model of the cooling process for one motional degree of freedom and show that a rate equation provides a good approximation.
Coherent interaction of laser radiation with multilevel atoms and molecules can lead to quantum interference in the electronic excitation pathways. A prominent example observed in atomic three-level-systems is the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), in which a control laser induces a narrow spectral transparency window for a weak probe laser beam. The concomitant rapid variation of the refractive index in this spectral window can give rise to dramatic reduction of the group velocity of a propagating pulse of probe light. Dynamic control of EIT via the control laser en…
We propose an approach to detect individual Rydberg molecules with each molecule consisting of two atoms in different Rydberg states. The scheme exploits the movement of atoms in the presence of an external force that exerts only on atoms in one Rydberg state. Since the movement of atoms in the other Rydberg state depends on whether they are bound with atoms directly driven by the applied force, bound atoms can be distinguished from unbound atoms. By utilizing electromagnetically induced transparency, it is possible to non-destructively image the positions of molecules. The scheme is sensitive…
We develop a general theory to study the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in ultracold quantum gases, applicable for both Bose and Fermi gases with arbitrary inter-particle interaction strength. We show that, in the weak probe field limit, the EIT spectrum is solely determined by the single particle Green's function of the ground state atoms, and reflects interesting quantum many-body effects when atoms are virtually coupled to the low-lying Rydberg states. As an example, we apply our theory to 1D Luttinger liquid, Bose-Mott insulator state, and the superfluid state of two-compon…
The well known Lambda-system using two ground state hyperfine levels, F=1 and F=2 of 5S1/2 and one hyperfine level, F=2 of excited state of 5P3/2 of 87Rb has been recently studied using two counter- propagating control lasers [1]. The experiment shows conversion of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) into electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) because the doubly driven Lambda-system forms various sub-systems. We here present detailed theoretical study of the different possible sub-systems created by this configuration. We also explore the possibility of tuning the strength of …
We demonstrate experimentally a new form of induced transparency, i.e., chaos-induced transparency, in a slightly deformed microcavity which support both continuous chaotic modes and discrete regular modes with Q factors exceeding 3X?10^7. When excited by a focused laser beam, the induced transparency in the transmission spectrum originates from the destructive interference of two parallel optical pathways: (i) directly refractive excitation of the chaotic modes, and (ii) excitation of the ultra-high-Q regular mode via chaos-assisted dynamical tunneling mechanism coupling back to the chaotic m…
In this work we present a theoretical frame work to identify the role and the nature of interference between Autler-Townes (AT) peaks (or dressed states) in generic multi-level system. The destructive interference between the AT peaks, gives rise to sharp transparency window known as electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). In the three-level system, the two AT peaks interferes pair-wise with each other, almost similar to the two-slit interference. In the four-level system, the interference between the three AT peaks is also pair-wise analogous to three-slit interference but has a bit m…
We consider propagation of a probe pulse in an atomic medium characterized by a combined tripod and Lambda ($Λ$) atom-light coupling scheme. The scheme involves three atomic ground states coupled to two excited states by five light fields. It is demonstrated that dark states can be formed for such an atom-light coupling. This is essential for formation of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and slow light. In the limiting cases the scheme reduces to conventional $Λ$- or $N$-type atom-light couplings providing the EIT or absorption, respectively. Thus the atomic system can experi…
We propose a method to control the optical transparency of a Bose-Einstein condensate with working energy levels of the Lambda-type. The reported effects are essentially nonlinear and are considered in the framework of an exactly solvable model describing the interaction of light with a Lambda-type medium. We show how the complicated nonlinear interplay between fast and slow solitons in the $Λ$-type medium points to a possibility to create optical gates as well as to a possibility to store optical information.
We consider the influence of a resonant control field on weak localization of light in ultracold atomic ensembles. Both steady-state and pulsed light excitation are considered. We show that the presence of a control field essentially changes the type of interference effects which occur under conditions of multiple scattering. For example, for some scattering polarization channels the presence of a control field can cause destructive interference through which the enhancement factor, normally considered to be greater than one, becomes less than one.
In this paper, we present a method to generate continuous-variable-type entangled states between photons and atoms in atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The proposed method involves an atomic BEC with three internal states, a weak quantized probe laser and a strong classical coupling laser, which form a three-level Lambda-shaped BEC system. We consider a situation where the BEC is in electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) with the coupling laser being much stronger than the probe laser. In this case, the upper and intermediate levels are unpopulated, so that their adiabatic elimina…
In this work we realize a narrow spectroscopic feature using a technique that we refer to as magnetically-induced optical transparency. A cold ensemble of $^{88}$Sr atoms interacts with a single mode of a high-finesse optical cavity via the 7.5kHz linewidth, spin forbidden $^1$S$_0$ to $^3$P$_1$ transition. By applying a magnetic field that shifts two excited state Zeeman levels, we open a transmission window through the cavity where the collective vacuum Rabi splitting due to a single level would create destructive interference for probe transmission. The spectroscopic feature approaches the …
We demonstrate the analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency in a room temperature cavity optomechanics setup formed by a thin semitransparent membrane within a Fabry-Pérot cavity. Due to destructive interference, a weak probe field is completely reflected by the cavity when the pump beam is resonant with the motional red sideband of the cavity. Under this condition we infer a significant slowing down of light of hundreds of microseconds, which is easily tuned by shifting the membrane along the cavity axis. We also observe the associated phenomenon of electromagnetically induced amp…
A semiclassical model supporting the destructive interference interpretation of zero-width resonances (ZWR) is extended to wavelengths inducing c_minus-type curve crossing situations in Na2 strong field dissociation. This opens the possibility to get critical couples of wavelengths lambda and field intensities I to reach ZWRs associated with the ground vibrationless level v = 0, that, contrary to other vibrational states (v > 0), is not attainable for the commonly referred c+-type crossings. The morphology of such ZWRs in the laser (I; lambda) parameter plane and their usefulness in filtration…
The phenomenon of "overlapping resonances interference-induced transparency" (ORIT) is introduced and studied in detail for the $S_0 \to S_2/S_1$ photoexcitation of cold pyrazine (C$_4$H$_4$N$_2$). In ORIT a molecule becomes transparent at specific wavelengths due to interferences between envelopes of spectral lines displaying overlapping resonances. An example is the $S_2\leftrightarrow S_1$ internal conversion in pyrazine where destructive interference between overlapping resonances causes the $S_0 \to S_2/S_1$ light absorption to disappear at certain wavelengths. ORIT may be of practical im…
We have examined theoretically the phenomenon of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) in a three-level system operating in the lambda-configuration in presence of an externally injected noise coupling the ground level to the intermediate (metastable) level. The changes in the depth and the width of the induced transparency and the slowing down of the probe light have been calculated as function of the probe detuning and the strength of the injected noise. The calculations are within the rotating-wave approximation (RWA). Our main results are the reduction and the broadening of the EI…
The atom-photon entanglement of dressed atom and its spontaneous emission in a Double-Lambda closed-loop atomic system is studied in multi-photon resonance condition. It is shown that, even in the absence of quantum interference due to the spontaneous emission, the von Neumann entropy is phase-sensitive and it can be controlled by either intensity or relative phase of the applied fields. It is demonstrated that, for the special case of Rabi frequency of the applied fields the system is maximally entangled. Moreover, the open-loop configuration is considered and it is shown that the degree of e…
Quantum Science Center of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area(粤港澳大湾区量子科学中心);Department of Physics and State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Tsinghua University(清华大学物理系低维量子物理国家重点实验室);Department of Physics and Hong Kong Institute of Quantum Science and Technology, The University of Hong Kong(香港大学物理系香港量子科学技术研究院)
In this paper we propose a new protocol to achieve coherent population transfer between two states in a three-level atom by using two ac fields. It is based on the physics of Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP), but it is implemented with the constraint of a reduced control, namely one of the fields cannot be switched off. A combination of frequency chirps is used with resonant fields, allowing to achieve approximate destructive interference, despite of the fact that an exact dark state does not exist. This new chirped STIRAP protocol is tailored for applications to artificial atoms, w…
We introduce a simple model for electromagnetically induced transparency in which all fields are treated quantum mechanically. We study a system of three separated atoms at fixed positions in a one-dimensional multimode optical cavity. The first atom serves as the source for a single spontaneously emitted photon; the photon scatters from a three-level Lambda-configuration atom which interacts with a single-mode field coupling two of the atomic levels; the third atom serves as a detector of the total transmitted field. We find an analytical solution for the quantum dynamics. From the quantum am…
We study the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect with two individually addressed four-level Rydberg atoms subjected to the interatomic van der Waals interaction. We derive an effectively atomic Raman transition model where two ladders of the usual Rydberg-EIT setting terminating at the same upper Rydberg level of long radiative lifetime are turned into a Rydberg-EIT lambda setup via two-photon transitions, leaving the middle levels of each ladder largely detuned from the coupling and probe laser beams. It can hence overcome the limits of applications for EIT with atoms of the…
We study the effect of a DC magnetic field on the phase sensitivity of a double-lambda system coupled by two laser fields, a probe and a pump. It is demonstrated that the gain and the refractive index of the probe can be controlled by either the magnetic field or the relative phase between the two laser fields. More interestingly, when the system reduces to a single-lambda system, turning on the magnetic field transforms the system from a phase-insensitive process to a phase-sensitive one. In the pulsed-probe regime, we observed switching between slow and fast light when the magnetic field or …
We theoretically investigate the analog of electromagnetically induced transparency, absorption and parametric amplification in a hybrid opto-electromechanical system consisting of an optical cavity and a microwave cavity coupled to a common nanomechanical resonator. When the two cavity modes are driven on their respective red sidebands by two pump beams and a probe beam is applied to the optical cavity to monitor the optical response of the hybrid system, we find that a transparency window appears in the probe transmission spectrum due to destructive interference. When the optical cavity is p…
Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is a well-known phenomenon due in part to its applicability to quantum devices such as quantum memories and quantum gates. EIT is commonly modeled with a three-level lambda system due to the simplicity of the calculations. However, this simplified model does not capture all the physics of EIT experiments with real atoms. We present a theoretical study of the effect of two closely-spaced excited states on EIT and off-resonance Raman transitions. We find that the coherent interaction of the fields with two excited states whose separation is smaller …
We present a proof-of-principle way to generate nondegenerate multipartite continuous-variable entanglements via atomic spin wave induced by the strong coupling and probe fields in the Lambda-type electromagnetically induced transparency configuration in an atomic ensemble. Quantum correlated/anti-correlated and entangled Stokes and anti-Stokes fields, simultaneously produced through scattering the applied laser fields off the atomic spin wave, can be achieved. This method can, in principle, be extended to flexibly and conveniently create multicolor multipartite entangled narrow-band fields to…
Entanglement is often the key element in quantum information protocols. Here, we present schemes to generate robust photon entanglement in optomechanical interfaces via quantum interference. The schemes explore the excitation of the Bogoliubov dark mode and the destructive quantum interference between the bright modes of the interface, similar to electromagnetically induced transparency, to eliminate leading-order effects of the mechanical noise. Both continuous-variable and discrete-state entanglements that are robust against the mechanical noise can be achieved.
Specific features of nonlinear interference processes at quantum transitions in near- and fully-resonant optically-dense Doppler-broadened medium are studied. The feasibility of overcoming of the fundamental limitation on a velocity-interval of resonantly coupled molecules imposed by the Doppler effect is shown based on quantum coherence. This increases the efficiency of nonlinear-optical processes in atomic and molecular gases that possess the most narrow and strongest resonances. The possibility of all-optical switching of the medium to opaque or, alternatively, to absolutely transparent, or…
We performed an experiment to observe the storages of an input probe field and an idler field generated through an off-axis four-wave mixing (FWM) process via a double-lambda configuration in a cold atomic ensemble. We analyzed the underlying physics in detail and found that the retrieved idler field came from two parts if there was no single-photon detuning for pump pulse: part 1 was from the collective atomic spin (the input probe field, the coupling field and the pump field combined to generate the idle field through FWM, then the idler was stored through electromagnetically induced transpa…
A theory is developed and applied to the study of opportunities and specific features of coherent control of four-wave mixing as well as of the accompanying processes in the continuous-wave regime, which involve transitions between bound and free quantum states. Such opportunities become feasible through constructive and destructive interference of quantum pathways. Two coupling schemes of practical importance are investigated. In the first, a ladder energy level scheme, fully-resonant sum-frequency nonlinear-optical generation of short-wavelength radiation driven by several strong fields is i…
We analyze a scheme for controlling coherent photon absorption by cavity electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a three-level atom-cavity system. Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) can occur when time-reversed symmetry of lasing process is obtained and destructive interference happens at the cavity interfaces. Generally, the frequency range of CPA is dependent on the decay rates of cavity mirrors. When the control laser is settled, the smaller cavity decay rate causes the wider frequency range of CPA, and the input intensity is larger to satisfy CPA condition for a given frequency. W…
We propose a scheme to create an effective magnetic field for ultra-cold atoms in a planar geometry. The set-up allows the experimental study of classical and quantum Hall effects in close analogy to solid-state systems including the possibility of finite currents. The present scheme is an extention of the proposal in Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 033602 (2004) where the effective magnetic field is now induced for three-level Lambda-type atoms by two counterpropagating laser beams with shifted spatial profiles. Under conditions of electromagentically induced transparency the atom-light interaction has …
We study the influence of two resonant laser beams (to be referred to as the control and probe beams) on the centre of mass motion of ultra-cold atoms characterised by three energy levels of the Lambda-type. The laser beams being in the Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) configuration drive the atoms to their dark states. We impose the adiabatic approximation and obtain an effective equation of motion for the dark state atoms. The equation contains a vector potential type interaction as well as an effective trapping potential. We concentrate on the situation where the control and p…