Experimental Investigation of the Transition between Autler-Townes   Splitting and Electromagnetically-Induced Transparency
  Two phenomena can affect the transmission of a weak signal field through an absorbing medium in the presence of a strong additional field: electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Autler-Townes splitting (ATS). Being able to discriminate between the two is important for various applications. Here we present an experimental investigation into a method that allows for such a disambiguation as proposed in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 163604 (2011)]. We apply the proposed test based on Akaike's information criterion to a coherently driven ensemble of cold cesium atoms and find a good agreement with theoretical predictions, therefore demonstrating the suitability of the method. Additionally, our results demonstrate that the value of the Rabi frequency for the ATS/EIT model transition in such a system depends on the level structure and on the residual inhomogeneous broadening. 
L. Giner (LKB - Jussieu), L. Veissier (LKB - Jussieu), B. Sparkes   (ANU), A. S. Sheremet (LKB - Jussieu, SPBSPU), A. Nicola...
physics.atom-ph quant-ph