Polarization of a Bose-Einstein Condensate of Photons in a Dye-Filled Microcavity

TL;DR

This study measures the polarization properties of a photon Bose-Einstein condensate in a dye-filled microcavity, revealing correlations with pump polarization and system anisotropy, using single-shot Stokes parameter measurements.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed polarization analysis of photon BECs in microcavities, highlighting the influence of pump polarization and system anisotropy on polarization behavior.

Findings

Photon BEC polarization correlates with pump pulse polarization.

Thermal cloud polarization is unaffected by experimental parameters.

System anisotropy governs the thermal cloud polarization.

Abstract

We measure the polarization of a photon gas in a dye-filled microcavity. The polarization is obtained by a single-shot measurement of the Stokes parameters. We find that the polarization of both the thermal cloud and the Bose-Einstein condensate of photons (phBEC) does not differ from shot to shot. In the case of the phBEC, we find that the polarization correlates with the polarization of the pump pulse. The polarization of the thermal cloud is independent of parameters varied in the experiment and is governed by a hidden anisotropy in the system.