Nodurft, I. C.Brewster, R. A.Pittman, T.B.Franson, J.D.2020-08-052020-08-052019-07-25I. C. Nodurft, R. A. Brewster, T. B. Pittman, and J. D. Franson, Optical attenuation without absorption, Phys. Rev. A 100 (01) 3850 (2019), DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.100.013850https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.100.013850http://hdl.handle.net/11603/19333We consider a coherent state of light propagating through an ensemble of two-level atoms where all the atoms are initially in their ground state. In ordinary absorption, the transition of atoms to their excited state along with the absorption of a photon will remove energy from the beam and attenuate the signal. Here we show that post-selecting on those cases in which none of the atoms made a transition to the excited state can give even more attenuation than would normally occur due to absorption. The same process can also produce amplification when there is a sufficiently strong interaction between the photons and the atoms.8 pagesen-USThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.©2019 American Physical SocietyText