Stokes parameters for light scattering from a Faraday-active sphere

We present an exact calculation for the scattering of light from a single sphere made of Faraday-active material, to first order in the external magnetic field. We use a recent expression for the T-matrix of a Mie scatterer in a magnetic field to compute the Stokes parameters in single scattering that describe completely flux and polarization of the scattered light.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, Latex, accepted for publication in JQSR

Transverse confinement of waves in 3D random media

We study the transmission of a tightly focused beam through a thick slab of 3D disordered medium in the Anderson localized regime. We show that the transverse profile of the transmitted beam exhibits clear signatures of Anderson localization and that its mean square width provides a direct measure of the localization length. For a short incident pulse, the width is independent of absorption.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Role of mean free path in spatial phase correlation and nodal screening

We study the spatial correlation function of the phase and its derivative, and related, fluctuations of topological charge, in two and three dimensional random media described by Gaussian statistics. We investigate their dependence on the scattering mean free path.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. submitted to Europhys. Let

Controlled manipulation of light by cooperative response of atoms in an optical lattice

We show that a cooperative atom response in an optical lattice to resonant incident light can be employed for precise control and manipulation of light on a subwavelength scale. Specific collective excitation modes of the system that result from strong light-mediated dipole-dipole interactions can be addressed by tailoring the spatial phase-profile of the incident light. We demonstrate how the collective response can be used to produce optical excitations at well-isolated sites on the lattice.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Dynamics of weakly localized waves

We develop a transport theory to describe the dynamics of (weakly) localized waves in a quasi-1D tube geometry both in reflection and in transmission. We compare our results to recent experiments with microwaves, and to other theories such as random matrix theory and supersymmetric theory.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 2 figure

Dynamics of Anderson localization in open 3D media

We develop a self-consistent theoretical approach to the dynamics of Anderson localization in open three-dimensional (3D) disordered media. The approach allows us to study time-dependent transmission and reflection, and the distribution of decay rates of quasi-modes of 3D disordered slabs near the Anderson mobility edge.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Mesoscopic phase statistics of diffuse ultrasound in dynamic matter

Temporal fluctuations in the phase of waves transmitted through a dynamic, strongly scattering, mesoscopic sample are investigated using ultrasonic waves, and compared with theoretical predictions based on circular Gaussian statistics. The fundamental role of phase in Diffusing Acoustic Wave Spectroscopy is revealed, and phase statistics are also shown to provide a sensitive and accurate way to probe scatterer motions at both short and long time scales.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Photonic Hall Effect in ferrofluids: Theory and Experiments

An experimental and theoretical study on the Photonic Hall Effect (PHE) in liquid and gelled samples of ferrofluids is presented. The ferrofluids are aqueous colloidal suspensions of Fe(_{2})CoO(_{4}) particles, which can be considered as anisotropic and absorbing Rayleigh scatterers. The PHE is found to be produced by the orientation of the magnetic moments of the particles, as is also the case for the Faraday effect. The dependence of the PHE with respect to the concentration of the scatterers, the magnetic field and the polarization of the incident light is measured in liquid and in gelled samples and is compared to a simple model based on the use of a scattering matrix and the single scattering approximation.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, submitte

Coherent backscattering of light by atoms in the saturated regime

We present the first calculation of coherent backscattering with inelastic scattering by saturated atoms. We consider the scattering of a quasi-monochromatic laser pulse by two distant atoms in free space. By restricting ourselves to scattering of two photons, we employ a perturbative approach, valid up to second order in the incident laser intensity. The backscattering enhancement factor is found to be smaller than two (after excluding single scattering), indicating a loss of coherence between the doubly scattered light emitted by both atoms. Since the undetected photon carries information about the path of the detected photon, the coherence loss can be explained by a which-path argument, in analogy with a double-slit experiment.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure