Light drag in an optomechanical system

Abstract Light dragging refers to the change in the path of light passing through a moving medium. This effect enables accurate detection of very slow speeds of light, which have prominent applications in state transfer, quantum gate operations, and quantum memory implementations. Here, to the best of our knowledge, we demonstrate the existence of the light-dragging effect in an optomechanical system (OMS) for the first time. The origin of this key factor arises from the nonlinear effects linked to optomechanical-induced transparency (OMIT). Hence, we observe prominent effects in the group and refractive indices profile spectra related to optomechanical parameters such as the decay rate of the cavity field, the mirror’s damping momentum rate, and mechanical frequency. We find that lateral light drag depends on the detuning by altering the amplitude and direction of the translational velocity. This allowed us to change the light’s propagation through the optomechanical cavity from superluminal to subluminal and vice versa by modifying the probe’s detuning. The ability to manipulate and control the light drag through an optomechanical system might be useful in designing novel optical devices and systems with enhanced performance.