Turning light into a liquid via atomic coherence

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Jan 20;96(2):023903. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.023903. Epub 2006 Jan 18.

Abstract

We study a four-level atomic system with electromagnetically induced transparency with giant chi(3) and chi(5) susceptibilities of opposite signs. This system will allow us to obtain multidimensional solitons and light condensates with surface tension properties analogous to those of usual liquids.