A scaling law for light scattering from dense and cold atomic ensembles

TL;DR

This paper derives and verifies a scaling law for polarized light scattering from dense, cold atomic ensembles, revealing how the scattering cross section changes with ensemble size, supported by numerical analysis and experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces an approximate scaling law for light scattering in dense, cold atomic clouds and validates it through numerical simulations and experimental comparison.

Findings

Scaling law accurately predicts size dependence of scattering cross section

Good agreement between theoretical scaling law and experimental data

Numerical analysis reveals regularities in scattering behavior with size increase

Abstract

We calculate the differential cross section of polarized light scattering from a cold and dense atomic ensemble. The regularities in the transformation of the cross section when increasing the size of the atomic ensemble are analyzed numerically. We show that for typical experimental conditions, an approximate scaling law can be obtained. Very good agreement is found in a comparison with experimental data on the size dependence of a dense and cold cloud of 87$Rb atoms.