[Fwd: Colloquium 12 Jan 01]
FYI
bc
Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, California
Department of Physics
COLLOQUIUM
Dr. Phillip Sprangle
Naval Research Laboratory
Friday, January 12, 2001
Spanagel Hall, Room 117
at 11:00am
"Comments on Superluminal Laser Pulse Propagation in a Gain Medium"
Abstract:
In a recent article [1], researchers reported observing superluminal
propagation of a laser pulse in a gain medium by a new mechanism which
does not distort the pulse. This article received a great deal of
attention in the world press. Our analysis indicates that the observed
superluminal propagation is due to differential gain by which the front
of the pulse is amplified more than the back. Using the laser envelope
equation the distortion of a pulse propagating in a dispersive
gain/absorptive medium is analyzed [2]. This analysis is used to
interpret recent experiments that claim to have observed distortionless
superluminal laser pulse propagation.
[1] L.J. Wang, A. Kuzmich, A. Dogariu, Nature 406, 277 (2000).
[2] P. Sprangle, J.R. Peñano, and B. Hafizi, submitted to Nature (2001)
and Phys. Rev. E (2001).
Collaborators: J.R. Peñano, and B. Hafizi
<<12 JAN 01.doc>>
Attachment:
12 JAN 01.doc
Description: MS-Word document