Superradiant transfer of quantized orbital angular momentum between light and atoms in a ring trap

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the coherent transfer of quantized orbital angular momentum from light to atoms in a ring trap, enabling control over light's OAM through superradiant processes in a Bose-Einstein condensate.

Contribution

It introduces a method for superradiant transfer of quantized OAM between light and atoms in a ring trap, enabling precise control of light's angular momentum states.

Findings

Successful transfer of OAM from light to atoms in a ring trap.

Control over atomic OAM states by tuning ring parameters and pump light.

Generation of light with different OAM from the pump via atomic imprinting.

Abstract

The orbital angular momentum (OAM) from a laser beam can be coherently transferred to a Bose-Einstein condensate in a ring trap, in quantized units of $\hbar$. The light-matter coupling allows for the superradiant transfer of the atoms between the discrete OAM states. Tuning the ring parameters and winding number of the pump light, specific angular momentum states can be populated. This in turn allows control of the emission to generate light with OAM different from that of the pump, as the atomic ring imprints its contribution on the scattered light.