ADIABATIC PROPAGATION OF QUANTIZED LIGHT PULSES IN AN ATOMIC MEDIUM WITH THE TRIPOD LEVEL CONFIGURATION
Mazets I.E.

Received: March 24, 2006

PACS: 42.50.Gy

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We consider adiabatic propagation of a pair of quantized light pulses in a coherently prepared atomic medium with the tripod level configuration. We find that under the conditions of the electromagnetically induced transparency, two distinct polariton modes are simultaneously formed in the medium. These polaritons, represented by certain coherent superpositions of the quantized fields, have different group velocities; the fast one propagates at essentially the speed of light, while the group velocity of the slow polariton can be dynamically reduced to zero. The state mapping between the electromagnetic field and atomic ensemble is also demonstrated.