Abstract
We discuss the transient effects associated with short-pulse propagation in a linearly dispersive medium by comparing optical precursors with pulses. The classical and quantum effects were, in the past, treated independently due to the different time scales. Using results from recent studies [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 143901 (2006) ] as well as the discussions by Varoquaux et al. [Phys. Rev. B. 34, 7617 (1989)] and Bürck [Hyperfine Interact. 123, 483 (1999)] , we show analytically that precursors and pulses describe the same physical phenomenon. We also show that most published results of transient pulse propagation can be expressed using one overarching equation. Finally, we give a physical interpretation of the analogy between precursors and pulses as a medium-impulse response using a Green’s function.
© 2008 Optical Society of America
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