Pump-probe approach to multiple scattering of intense laser light from cold atoms

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Cold atoms is an unprecedented example of a monodisperse disordered medium with controllable optical properties. This makes cold atoms highly suitable for studies of fundamental disorder-induced interference effects alike coherent backscattering (CBS) and Anderson localization of light, as weIl as for applications in random lasers. These interference effects can be destroyed if coherence between the interfering multiple scattering waves is broken. For quantum scatterers, the two most relevant dephasing mechanisms are Raman scattering on degenerate atomic transitions, on the one hand, and multi-photon scattering, on the other hand.The present project is aimed at a further development of the "pump-probe" formalism which has so far been worked out for two scalar atoms. The pump-probe approach synthesizes the potentials of the master equation and diagrammatic scattering theory approaches, and is hence a promising approach for treating multiple scattering from saturated atoms in a dilute atomic medium. Within the present project, we will generalize the pump-probe formalism in order to treat multiple scattering by vector atoms. The resulting multiple scattering theory of intense laser light from cold atoms will allow a quantitative comparison with existing experiments. Besides, it will enable us to make quantitative predictions concerning the quantum statistical signatures of CBS.