Probing the quantum ground state of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate with cavity transmission spectra

We propose to probe the quantum ground state of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate with the transmission spectra of an optical cavity. By choosing a circularly polarized cavity mode with an appropriate frequency, we can realize coupling between the cavity mode and the magnetization of the condensate. The cavity transmission spectra then contain information of the magnetization statistics of the condensate and thus can be used to distinguish the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic quantum ground states. This technique may also be useful for continuous observation of the spin dynamics of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate.