Photon localization and Dicke superradiance in atomic gases
Abstract
Photon propagation in a gas of N atoms is studied using an effective Hamiltonian describing photon mediated atomic dipolar interactions. The density P() of photon escape rates is determined from the spectrum of the N x N random matrix ij = (xij) / xij, where xij is the dimensionless random distance between any two atoms. Varying disorder and system size, a scaling behavior is observed for the escape rates. It is explained using microscopic calculations and a stochastic model which emphasizes the role of cooperative effects in photon localization and provides an interesting relation with statistical properties of "small world networks".
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