Control of Light Pulse Propagation with Only a Few Cold Atoms in a High-Finesse Microcavity

Propagation of a light pulse through a high-$Q$ optical microcavity containing a few cold atoms ($\overline{N}<10$) in its cavity mode is investigated experimentally. With less than ten cold rubidium atoms launched into an optical microcavity, up to 170 ns propagation lead time (“superluminal”), and 440 ns propagation delay time (subluminal) are observed. Comparison of the experimental data with numerical simulations as well as future experiments are discussed.