Theory of Coherent Raman Superradiance Imaging of Condensed Bose Gases

We model the off-resonant superradiant Raman scattering of light from a cigar-shaped atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. Absorption images of transmitted light serve as a direct probe of long range coherence in the condensate. Our multimode theory is in good agreement with the time-dependent spatial features observed in recent experiments, and the inclusion of quantum fluctuations in the initial stages of the superradiant emission accounts well for shot-to-shot fluctuations.