Interaction of an optically dense Bose condensate with a resonant laser pulse

Propagation of a resonant laser pulse through an optically dense Bose-Einst ein condensate is theoretically investigated. Changes in the spatial distri bution of the condensate after the laser pulse propagation are analyzed. It is shown that atoms escape from the condensate due to the joint action of two factors: the transition of atoms from the ground state to an excited st ate upon absorption of the resonant photons and the effect of a zero-result measurement. The latter effect is interpreted in terms of the theory of qu antum measurements. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka / Interperiodica".