The Onset of Matter-Wave Amplification in a Superradiant Bose-Einstein Condensate
Dominik Schneble,*
Yoshio Torii,
Micah Boyd,
Erik W. Streed,
David E. Pritchard,
Wolfgang Ketterle
The interaction of short and strong laser pulses with an atomic
Bose-Einstein condensate is found to generate patterns of recoiling
atoms that are different from those seen in previous light-scattering
experiments. This phenomenon can only be explained by optical
stimulation, showing that the previous description of superradiance
as atomic stimulation is incomplete and that matter-wave amplification
in Bose-Einstein condensates is suppressed at short times. Our
experiments clarify the nature of bosonic stimulation in the
four-wave mixing of light and atoms.
Present address: Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo, Japan.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schneble{at}mit.edu
