Slow-light Airy wave packets and their active control via electromagnetically induced transparency

We propose a scheme to generate (3+1)-dimensional slow-light Airy wave packets in a resonant $\Lambda$-type three-level atomic gas via electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that in the absence of dispersion the Airy wave packets formed by a probe field consist of two Airy wave packets accelerated in transverse directions and a longitudinal Gaussian pulse with a constant propagating velocity lowered to $10^{-5}\,c$ ($c$ is the light speed in vacuum). We also show that in the presence of dispersion it is possible to generate another type of slow-light Airy wave packets consisting of two Airy beams in transverse directions and an Airy wave packet in the longitudinal direction. In this case, the longitudinal velocity of the Airy wave packet can be further reduced during propagation. Additionally, we further show that the transverse accelerations (or bending) of the both types of slow-light Airy wave packets can be completely eliminated and the motional trajectories of them can be actively manipulated and controlled by using a Stern-Gerlach gradient magnetic field.