Anomalous Optical Drag

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of an anomalous optical drag effect where light displacement occurs opposite to the medium's movement, observed under electromagnetically-induced transparency conditions, revealing a transition from normal to anomalous drag.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the existence of an anomalous optical drag effect and details how it can be controlled via two-photon detuning in EIT conditions, a novel observation in optical physics.

Findings

Observation of anomalous optical drag opposite to medium movement

Transition from normal to anomalous drag controlled by two-photon detuning

Experimental validation under electromagnetically-induced transparency

Abstract

A moving dielectric medium can displace the optical path of light passing through it, a phenomenon known as the Fresnel-Fizeau optical drag effect. The resulting displacement is proportional to the medium's velocity. In this article, we report on an anomalous optical drag effect, where the displacement is still proportional to the medium's speed but along the direction opposite to the medium's movement. We conduct an optical drag experiment under conditions of electromagnetically-induced transparency and observe the transition from normal, to null, to anomalous optical drag by modification of the two-photon detuning.