Abstract
We report on optical spectroscopic measurements of ultracold and partially condensed (sub>87</sub>Rb gases, which show distinct spectral features due to the thermal and the Bose condensed components in the frequency domain. These features are detected in-situ by using a dark-field configuration with single-photon sensitivity and a frequency-agile laser system. To interpret the observed spectra, we develop a model for light propagation through an inhomogeneous atomic cloud. This model enables the extraction of temperature and atom number, which we benchmark against conventional time-of-flight absorption imaging. The spectroscopically obtained cloud parameters show enhanced sensitivity to small thermal fractions in nearly pure condensates. We further compare the spectroscopy in dark-field and bright-field configurations, demonstrating the superior performance of the former. Our results reveal previously unexplored spectral structure in optically dense ultracold gases and establish spectroscopy as a tool for characterizing ultracold systems at very low temperatures.