Phase contrast imaging of atomic superfluid state in degenerate gas of /sup 4/Li atoms

Summary form only given. A technique based on coherent Fourier optical imaging is proposed to detect an atomic superfluid state in a degenerate gas of /sup 6/Li atoms. We show that the superfluid state is characterized by the formation of atomic Cooper pairs in the degenerate /sup 6/Li gas. The key to observe such a superfluid state is to determine the quantum pair correlation due to the existence of atomic Cooper pairs. By use of the vector quantum-field theory, we study the propagation of light field through the /sup 6/Li gas in the superfluid state. The total intensity of the scattered light and the transmitted light by the gas is calculated.