Superluminal delays of coherent pulses in nondissipative media: A universal mechanism

We identify the universal mechanism that is responsible for superluminal (faster-than-light) traversal times as well as the narrowing of wave packets transmitted through various nondissipative media. This mechanism is shown to be predominantly destructive interference between successive wave-packet components traversing all accessible causally retarded paths. It strongly depends on wave-packet coherence and width, and can cause superluminal traversal not only in evanescent-wave ‘‘tunneling’’ but also in allowed propagation. © 1996 The American Physical Society.