Photon recoil momentum in a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas

TL;DR

This paper presents a microscopic theoretical model for measuring photon recoil momentum in a Bose-Einstein condensate using a two-pulse interferometry scheme, aligning with experimental observations and providing detailed recoil statistics.

Contribution

It introduces a minimal model based on coupled Maxwell-Schroedinger equations to accurately describe photon recoil measurements in dilute Bose-Einstein condensates.

Findings

Reproduces key experimental features

Calculates mean recoil momentum

Provides recoil distribution details

Abstract

We develop a "minimal" microscopic model to describe a two-pulse-Ramsay-interferometer-based scheme of measurement of the photon recoil momentum in a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas [Campbell et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 170403 (2005)]. We exploit the truncated coupled Maxwell-Schroedinger equations to elaborate the problem. Our approach provides a theoretical tool to reproduce essential features of the experimental results. Additionally, we enable to calculate the quantum-mechanical mean value of the recoil momentum and its statistical distribution that provides a detailed information about the recoil event.