Photon recoil momentum in dispersive media.
A systematic shift of the photon recoil momentum due to the index of refraction of a dilute gas of atoms has been observed. The recoil frequency was determined with a two-pulse light grating interferometer using near-resonant laser light. The results show that the recoil momentum of atoms caused by the absorption of a photon is n variant Planck's k, where n is the index of refraction of the gas and k is the vacuum wave vector of the photon. This systematic effect must be accounted for in high-precision atom interferometry with light gratings.
Campbell
Gretchen K
GK
MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, Research Laboratory of Electronics and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Leanhardt
Aaron E
AE
Mun
Jongchul
J
Boyd
Micah
M
Streed
Erik W
EW
Ketterle
Wolfgang
W
Pritchard
David E
DE