Bosonic enhancement of spontaneous emission near an interface

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that bosonic stimulation in a Bose-Einstein condensate enhances the spontaneous emission rate of an atom, providing a method to probe spatial coherence and amplify decay rates near interfaces.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism where bosonic stimulation enhances atomic emission rates, linking it to spatial coherence in Bose gases and interface effects.

Findings

Spontaneous emission rate is enhanced by bosonic stimulation.

Overlap with condensate wave function influences stimulation.

Method can amplify decay rates near interfaces.

Abstract

We show how the spontaneous emission rate of an excited two-level atom placed in a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate of ground-state atoms is enhanced by bosonic stimulation. This stimulation depends on the overlap of the excited matter-wave packet with the macroscopically occupied condensate wave function, and provides a probe of the spatial coherence of the Bose gas. The effect can be used to amplify the distance-dependent decay rate of an excited atom near an interface.