Collective atomic spin squeezing and control

Using a quantum theory for an ensemble of two- or three-level atoms driven by electromagnetic fields in an optical cavity, we show that the various spins associated with the atomic ensemble can be squeezed. Two kinds of squeezing are obtained: on the one hand self-spin squeezing when the input fields are coherent ones and the atomic ensemble exhibits a large non-linearity; on the other hand squeezing transfer when one of the incoming fields is squeezed. Received 14 August 2001 and Received in final form 7 November 2001     

Squeezed two-mode lasers without and with inversion

On the basis of the nondegenerate quantum-beat laser model, we introduce a coherent field which drives the transition between the upper lasing level and an auxiliary level. We demonstrate that such a four-level system can produce squeezed two-mode laser without and with inversion. When the laser is operated well above threshold, the intensity fluctuation in the average mode is reduced below the shot noise with an optimum Mandel parameter Q=- 1/2. At the same time, the noises in the relative amplitude and the relative phase drop to their vaccum noise levels. Furthermore, regardless of inversion, noninversion, and transition between inversion and noninversion, the optimum Mandel Q parameter of Q=- 1/2 is retained when the system operates well above threshold. A simple physical explanation of the squeezing mechanism for two-mode squeezing is given. Received: 22 December 1997 / Revised: 25 March 1998 / Accepted: 9 September 1998     

Generation of superpositions of coherent states on a circle

We propose a simple method to obtain a superposition of coherent states on a circle, including Schr?dinger cat states as a special case, via conditional measurement of the state of three level atoms interacting with a one mode cavity field. In the low amplitude limit, very good approximation of Fock states can also be generated in this way. Received: 8 October 1998 / Accepted: 30 October 1998     

Steady-state populations of a driven three-level atom in a broad-band squeezed vacuum

A theoretical study is made of the steady-state populations of a three-level atom in a ladder configuration, driven by a superposition of a monochromatic laser wave with a broad-band squeezed vacuum. The master equation for the system and the atomic Bloch equations are derived. The steady-state populations are calculated numerically and shown graphically as functions of two-photon detuning for various cases of the squeezed vacuum. It is shown that, the atomic populations depend strongly on the relative phase of the driving field and the squeezed vacuum. When the phase matching condition is fulfilled, there will be a strong two-photon resonant absorption from the squeezed vacuum, a characteristic different from absorption of photons from a classical field. Received: 28 May 1997 / Revised and Accepted: 10 December 1997     

Eigenstates of boson creation operator

We examine the existence of right-hand eigenstates (or eigenkets) of the boson creation operator a and determine their coordinate and their Bargmann representation. The eigenkets of the creation operator are ultrasingular and cannot be considered as a limiting case of normalizable states. Applications of these eigenstates as auxiliary states for purposes of representation of states by path integrals over coherent states are discussed. A completeness relation for coherent states on paths through the complex plane is derived and special examples of its application are considered. Received 9 March 2001 and Received in final form 13 June 2001     

Direct experimental test of non-separability and other quantum techniques using continuous variables of light

We present schemes for the generation and evaluation of continuous variable entanglement of bright optical beams and give a brief overview of a variety of optical techniques and quantum communication applications on this basis. A new entanglement-based quantum interferometry scheme with bright beams is suggested. The performance of the presented schemes is independent of the relative interference phase which is advantageous for quantum communication applications. Received 1st August 2001     

Intensity noise of injected Nd:YVO 4 microchip lasers

The combined effects of the pump noise suppression and injection locking technique on the intensity noise of a diode pumped Nd:YVO₄ microchip laser are theoretically and experimentally investigated. Complete cancellation of the relaxation oscillation peak is experimentally achieved. Very good agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions of a fully quantum model describing lasers with injected signal is found. Received 10 December 2001 and Received in final form 6 March 2002     

Continuous variables quantum switch teleportation using two-mode squeezed light

We propose a novel quantum switch teleportation with a continuous variable, which can teleport a quantum state to two different receivers alternatively, using a pair of two-mode squeezed lights as the quantum switching to manipulate the transmission route. In this scheme, the EPR entangled beams shared by sender and receivers are produced by mixing a pair of two-mode squeezed lights on one beamsplitter and separating them by using a polarizing beam splitter. The teleportation capability of this system is examined by the criteria proposed by Ralph and Lam [#!ralph!#] from a small signal quantum optical point of view. Received 20 May 2002 / Received in final form 29 July 2002 Published online 24 September 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: zhangyun@crl.go.jp     

Quantum state engineering using conditional measurement on a beam splitter

State preparation via conditional output measurement on a beam splitter is studied, assuming the signal mode is mixed with a mode prepared in a Fock state and photon numbers are measured in one of the output channels. It is shown that the mode in the other output channel is prepared in either a photon-subtracted or a photon-added Jacobi polynomial state, depending upon the difference between the number of photons in the input Fock state and the number of photons in the output Fock state onto which it is projected. The properties of the conditional output states are studied for coherent and squeezed input states, and the probabilities of generating the states are calculated. Relations to other states, such as near-photon-number states and squeezed-state-excitations, are given and proposals are made for generating them by combining the scheme with others. Finally, effects of realistic photocounting and Fock-state preparation are discussed. Received: 17 March 1998 / Revised and Accepted: 8 May 1998     

Calculation of quantum correlation spectra using the regression theorem

We present a simple method, based on the quantum regression theorem, to calculate the quantum correlation spectra for two optical beams in the linearized fluctuation regime. As an application, we discuss the dynamical instability, the squeezing spectra and the QND properties of a crossed Kerr-type dispersive model. Received 30 August 1999 and Received in final form 4 July 2000     

Statistical properties of a solvable three-boson squeeze operator model

In the present paper we introduce a new squeeze operator, which is related to the time-dependent evolution operator for Hamiltonian representing mutual interaction between three different modes. Squeezing phenomenon as well as the variances of the photon-number sum and difference are considered. Moreover, Glauber second-order correlation function is discussed, besides the quasiprobability distribution function and phase distribution for different states. The joint photon-number distribution is also reported. Received 29 March 2000 and Received in final form 20 September 2000     

Quantum imaging,quantum lithography and the uncertainty principle

One of the most surprising consequences of quantum mechanics is the entanglement of two or more distant particles. Even though we still have questions in regard to fundamental issues of the entangled quantum systems, quantum entanglement has started to play important roles in practical applications. Quantum imaging is one of the hot topics. Quantum imaging has many interesting features which are useful for different applications. For example, quantum imaging can be nonlocal, which is useful for secure two-dimensional information transfer. Quantum imaging can reach a much higher spatial resolution comparing with classical imaging, even beyond the diffraction limit, which is useful for lithography and other microsystem fabrication technology. It is not a violation of the uncertainty principle, however, a quantum mechanical multi-particle phenomenon. Received 30 August 2002 / Received in final form 11 November 2002 Published online 4 February 2003     

A single atom-based generation of Bell states of two cavities

A new conditional scheme for generating Bell states of two spatially separated high-Q cavities is reported. Our method is based on the passage of one atom only through the two cavities. A distinctive feature of our treatment is that it incorporates from the very beginning the unavoidable presence of fluctuations in the atom-cavity interaction times. The possibility of successfully implementing our proposal against cavity losses and atomic spontaneous decay is carefully discussed. Received 31 July 2001 and Received in final form 9 October 2001     

Nonclassical properties and algebraic characteristics of negative binomial states in quantized radiation fields

We study the nonclassical properties and algebraic characteristics of the negative binomial states introduced by Barnett recently. The ladder operator formalism and displacement operator formalism of the negative binomial states are found and the algebra involved turns out to be the SU(1,1) Lie algebra via the generalized Holstein-Primarkoff realization. These states are essentially Perelomov's SU(1,1) coherent states. We reveal their connection with the geometric states and find that they are excited geometric states. As intermediate states, they interpolate between the number states and geometric states. We also point out that they can be recognized as the nonlinear coherent states. Their nonclassical properties, such as sub-Poissonian distribution and squeezing effect are discussed. The quasiprobability distributions in phase space, namely the Q and Wigner functions, are studied in detail. We also propose two methods of generation of the negative binomial states. d 32.80.Pj Optical cooling of atoms; trapping Received 8 May 1999 and Received in final form 8 November 1999     

Quantum state of an injected TROPO above threshold: purity,Glauber function and photon number distribution

In this paper, we investigate several properties of the full signal-idler-pump mode quantum state generated by a triply resonant non-degenerate Optical Parametric Oscillator operating above threshold, with an injected wave on the signal and idler modes in order to lock the phase diffusion process. We determine and discuss the spectral purity of this state, which turns out not to be always equal to 1 even though the three interacting modes have been taken into account at the quantum level. We have seen that the purity is essentially dependent on the weak intensity of the injected light and on an asymmetry of the synchronization. We then derive the expression of its total three-mode Glauber P-function, and calculate the joint signal-idler photon number probability distribution and investigate their dependence on the injection.     

Quantum structures in traveling-wave spontaneous parametric down-conversion

We analyze theoretically spatial structures appearing in the far diffraction zone of the electromagnetic field emitted in the cavityless parametric down-conversion. We investigate in detail the spatial correlation functions of intensity and demonstrate the existence of strong quantum correlations between the regions of the far field symmetrical with respect to the optical axis. Our simplified model allows us to obtain analytical results for some limiting cases. We demonstrate that in the limit of small diffraction and ideal quantum efficiency of photodetection the noise reduction in the photocurrent difference between symmetrical regions in the far diffraction field becomes complete at zero frequency of photocurrent fluctuations. Received 5 February 2001 and Received in final form 11 April 2001     

Evolution of cat states in a dissipative parametric amplifier: decoherence and entanglement

The evolution of the Schr?dinger-cat states in a dissipative parametric amplifier is examined. The main tool in the analysis is the normally ordered characteristic function. Squeezing, photon-number distribution and reduced factorial moments are discussed for the single- and compound-mode cases. Also the single-mode Wigner function is demonstrated. In addition to the decoherence resulting from the interaction with the environment (damped case) there are two sources which can cause such decoherence in the system even if it is completely isolated: these are the decay of the pump and the relative phases of the initial cat states. Furthermore, for the damped case there are two regimes, which are underdamped and overdamped. In the first (second) regime the signal mode or the idler mode “collapses" to a statistical mixture (thermal field). Received 25 September 2001 / Received in final form 30 May 2002 Published online 13 December 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: sebaweh@awalnet.net.sa RID="b" ID="b"Joint Laboratory of Optics of Palacky University and Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 17. listopadu 50, 772 07 Olomouc, Czech Republic.     

Series solution to the laser-ion interaction in a Raman-type configuration

The Raman interaction of a ultracold ion trapped with two travelling wave lasers is studied analytically with series solutions, in the absence of the rotating wave approximation (RWA) and without restrictions of both the Lamb-Dicke limit and the weak excitation regime. The comparison is made between our solutions and those obtained under the RWA in order to demonstrate the validity region of the RWA. As a practical example, the preparation of Schr?dinger-cat states is proposed beyond the weak excitation regime, using our calculations. Received 12 March 2001 and Received in final form 16 October 2001     

Preparation of Fock states and quantum entanglement via stimulated Raman adiabatic passage using a four-level atom

We study the behaviour of an atom-cavity system exposed to a stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) process in a four-level system, with a coupling scheme which generate two degenerate dark states. We find that the non-adiabatic interaction of the two dark states guarantees that the cavity Fock states can always be generated by both intuitively and counterintuitively ordered pulses. Furthermore, we propose a method to entangle two atoms. Depending on the ordering of the pulses two orthogonal entangled states can be prepared. Since these entangled states do not have component of the excited states included, the technique is robust against the detrimental consequences of spontaneous emission. Received 20 March 2001     

Non-classical behavior in multimode and disordered transverse structures in OPO

We employ the Q-representation to study the non-classical correlations that are present from below to above-threshold in the degenerate optical parametric oscillator. Our study shows that such correlations are present just above threshold, in the regime in which stripe patterns are formed, but that they also persist further above threshold in the presence of spatially disordered structures. Received: 13 September 2002 / Received in final form: 11 November 2002 Published online 28 January 2003