Theory of Raman Superradiance Imaging of Condensed Bose Gases

We investigate superradiant off-resonant Raman scattering of light from an elongated Bose-condensate of atoms. Absorption imaging of superradiant systems yields stronger image contrast than imaging of systems scattering light incoherently. However, the spatial structure of the recoiling atomic fields is not simply proportional to the initial state density. We present a multi-mode theory that reproduces the time evolving spatial features observed in absorption images and accounts for shot-to-shot fluctuations.