Propagation of a probe pulse inside a Bose-Einstein condensate under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency

Abstract

We obtain a partial differential equation for a pulse travelling inside a Bose-Einstein condensate under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. The equation is valid for a weak probe pulse. We solve the equation for the case of a three-level BEC in $\Lambda$ configuration with one of its ground state spatial profiles initially constant. The solution characterizes, in detail, the effect that the evolution of the condensate wave function has on pulse propagation, including the process of stopping and releasing it.