Emulation of magneto-optic Faraday effect using ultracold atoms

Abstract

We propose an arresting scheme for emulating the famous Faraday effect in ultracold atomic gases. Inspired by the similarities between the light field and bosonic atoms, we represent the light propagation in medium by the atomic transport in accompany of the laser-atom interaction. An artificial magneto-optic Faraday effect is readily signaled by the spin imbalance of atoms, with the setup of laser fields offering a high controllability for quantum manipulation. The present scheme is really feasible and can be realized with existing experimental techniques of ultracold atoms. It generalizes the crucial concept of the magneto-optic Faraday effect to ultracold atomic physics, and opens a new way of quantum emulating and exploring the magneto-optic Faraday effect and associated intriguing physics.