# Roles of cooperative effects and disorder in photon localization: The case of a vector radiation field

## TL;DR

This study investigates how cooperative effects and disorder influence photon localization in three-dimensional atomic gases, emphasizing the dominant role of cooperative effects over disorder, and finds scalar models sufficiently approximate vector light behavior.

## Contribution

The paper demonstrates that photon localization in atomic gases is primarily driven by cooperative effects, and shows scalar models are adequate for describing photon escape rates.

## Key findings

- Photon escape rates scale with optical thickness
- Photon localization is dominated by cooperative effects
- Scalar models are effective for photon escape rate analysis

## Abstract

We numerically study photon escape rates from three-dimensional atomic gases and investigate the respective roles of cooperative effects and disorder in photon localization, while taking into account the vectorial nature of light. A scaling behavior is observed for the escape rates, and photons undergo a crossover from delocalization toward localization as the optical thickness of the cloud is increased. This result indicates that light localization is dominated by cooperative effects rather than disorder. We compare our results with those obtained in the case of a scalar radiation field and find no significant differences. We conclude that the scalar model constitutes an excellent approximation when considering photon escape rates from atomic gases.