Abstract
We present an analytic model of the refractive index for matter waves propagating through atomic or molecular gases. The model, which combines the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) treatment of the long-range attraction with the Fraunhofer model treatment of the short-range repulsion, furnishes a refractive index in compelling agreement with recent experiments of Jacquey et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 240405 (2007)] on Li atom matter waves passing through dilute noble gases. We show that the diffractive contribution, which arises from scattering by a two-dimensional “hard core” of the potential, is essential for obtaining a correct imaginary part of the refractive index.
- Received 3 March 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.82.022711
©2010 American Physical Society