Self-Organization Threshold with an External Potential

Abstract

We derive threshold equations for self-organization of laser driven atoms in an optical cavity. Our analysis includes probing with either a traveling wave or a retro reflected lattice. These two scenarios lead to qualitatively different behavior in terms of the response of the system as a function of cavity detuning with respect to the probe. In addition our analysis includes the effects of an intra-cavity trapping potential which is also shown to impact on the threshold condition. We specifically consider the case of an intra-cavity lattice but our treatment can easily be modified to other geometries.