Detection of atomic entanglement and electromagnetically induced transparency in velocity-selective coherent population trapping

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the optical properties of an atomic gas which has been cooled by the laser cooling method velocity-selective coherent population trapping. We demonstrate that the application of a weak laser pulse gives rise to a backscattered pulse, which is a direct signal for the entanglement in the atomic system, and which leads to single-particle entanglement on the few-photon level. If the pulse is applied together with the pump lasers, it also displays the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency. We suggest that the effect should be observable in a gas of Rubidium atoms.

Revtex, 9 pages, 6 figures. To appear in Physical Review A