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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 86 » Issue 18
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3925–3929 (2001)

Signal Velocity, Causality, and Quantum Noise in Superluminal Light Pulse Propagation

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A. Kuzmich, A. Dogariu, and L. J. Wang
NEC Research Institute, 4 Independence Way, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

P. W. Milonni
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545

R. Y. Chiao
Physics Department, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720

Received 3 November 2000; published in the issue dated 30 April 2001

We consider pulse propagation in a linear anomalously dispersive medium where the group velocity exceeds the speed of light in vacuum ( c) or even becomes negative. A signal velocity is defined operationally based on the optical signal-to-noise ratio, and is computed for cases appropriate to the recent experiment where such a negative group velocity was observed. It is found that quantum fluctuations limit the signal velocity to values less than c.

© 2001 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3925
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3925
PACS:
03.65.Sq, 42.50.Lc
 
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