Interaction of a two-level atom with squeezed light

We consider a degenerate parametric oscillator whose cavity contains a two-level atom. Applying the Heisenberg and quantum Langevin equations, we calculate in the bad-cavity limit the mean photon number, the quadrature variance, and the power spectrum for the cavity mode in general and for the signal light and fluorescent light in particular. We also obtain the normalized second-order correlation function for the fluorescent light. We find that the presence of the two-level atom leads to a decrease in the degree of squeezing of the signal light. It so turns out that the fluorescent light is in a squeezed state and the power spectrum consists of a single peak only.     

Coherent control of a light field with electromagnetically induced transparency in a dark state Raman coherent tripod system

A dark state superposition is employed and formed a tripod-like system. A weak probe pulse propagates in it can experience a crossover from absorption to transparent and then to amplification, and its group velocity can be controlled in any desired speed by determining the initial states of the dark state superposition.     

Decoherence in atom–field interactions: A treatment using superoperator techniques

Decoherence is a subject of great importance in quantum mechanics, particularly in the fields of quantum optics, quantum information processing and quantum computing. Quantum computation relies heavily in the unitary character of each step carried out by a quantum computational device and this unitarity is affected by decoherence. An extensive study of master equations is therefore needed for a better understanding on how quantum information is processed when a system interacts with its environment. Master equations are usually studied by using Fokker–Planck and Langevin equations and not much attention has been given to the use of superoperator techniques. In this report we study in detail several approaches that lead to decoherence, for instance a variation of the Schrödinger equation that models decoherence as the system evolves through intrinsic mechanisms beyond conventional quantum mechanics rather than dissipative interaction with an environment. For the study of the dissipative interaction we use a correspondence principle approach. We solve the master equations for different physical systems, namely, Kerr and parametric down conversion. In the case of light-matter interaction we show that although dissipation destroys the quantumness of the field, information of the initial field may be obtained via the reconstruction of quasiprobability distribution functions.     

Generation of Coherent Trimers from Bose-Condensed Atoms via a Generalized Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage

We propose to use a generalized technique of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage to create an atom-molecule dark state that permits the enhanced coherent creation of triatomic molecules in a repulsive atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. As an interesting comparison, the similar cases of creating heteronuclear （bosonic or fermionic） trimers are also briefly discussed.     

Anomalous Effects of Driving Field Linewidth on a One-Atom Dressed-State Laser

We examine the effects of driving field linewidth on a one-atom dressed state laser. Unexpectedly, the linewidth leads to anomalous effects on the cavity field. The mean photon number of the cavity field is raised or the normalized variance is reduced to a certain degree as the linewidth increases for an appropriate range of parameters. The responsible mechanism is attributed to the fluctuation-induced modification of the electromagnetic reservoir where the atom stays.     

Bichromatic and trichromatic manipulation of spontaneous emission in a three-level Λ system

Bichromatic and trichromatic manipulation of spontaneous emission in a three-level system in Λ configuration is studied on the basis of density matrix equation and quantum regression theorem. The spontaneous emission spectrum is numerically calculated by using harmonic expansion and matrix inversion. Two characteristic features are shown. Firstly, the central resonance peak, which is absent in the case of monochromatic excitation, is recovered for the bichromatic or trichromatic excitation. Secondly, selective elimination of the spectral lines is obtained by varying the amplitudes and phases of the trichromatic components. For the phase dependence, it is the sum of the relative phases of the two sideband components to the central component that plays a crucial role. The spontaneous emission spectrum is drastically modified once the sum phase is changed, but is kept unchanged regardless of the respective phases when the sum phase is fixed.     

Thermal calcium atom interferometer comprised of three copropagating traveling laser beams

Received: 24 March 1998/Revised version: 2 June 1998     

1/N-Expansion for the Dicke model and the decoherence program

An analysis of the Dicke model, N two-level atoms interacting with a single radiation mode, is done using the Holstein-Primakoff transformation. The main aim of the paper is to show that, changing the quantization axis with respect to the common usage, it is possible to prove a general result either for N or the coupling constant going to infinity for the exact solution of the model. This completes the analysis, known in the current literature, with respect to the same model in the limit of N and volume going to infinity, keeping the density constant. For the latter the proper axis of quantization is given by the Hamiltonian of the two-level atoms and for the former the proper axis of quantization is defined by the interaction. The relevance of this result relies on the observation that a general measurement apparatus acts using electromagnetic interaction and so, one can state that the thermodynamic limit is enough to grant the appearance of classical effects. Indeed, recent experimental results give first evidence that superposition states disappear interacting with an electromagnetic field having a large number of photons.     

Spectral line suppression and sideband narrowing via quantum interference

We reveal that for a realistic system, interference effects are obtained such as the suppression of central line and inner sidebands and the narrowing of the outer fluorescence sidebands. For this purpose, we consider a spontaneous decay from an excited state to a metastable state when the excited and metastable states are resonantly coupled to an auxiliary metastable state by a laser field and a microwave field, respectively. The fluorescence spectrum evolves from a five-peaked structure into a doublet of ultrasharp lines as the ratio of the laser field Rabi frequency to the microwave Rabi frequency is decreased. The physical origin is presented in terms of dressed states.     

Cavity-Induced Enhancement of Squeezing in Resonance Fluorescence of a V-Type Three-Level Atom

The quadrature squeezing spectra in the resonance fluorescence of a V-type three-level atom driven by a coherent field and coupled to a single-mode cavity is investigated. For weak excitation, the fluorescence field exhibit squeezing in the out-of-phase quadrature. The coupling between the atom and the cavity mode can greatly enhance the squeezing centred at the laser frequency. More importantly, for strong excitation, under the effect of the cavity-atom coupling, the in-phase quadrature of fluorescence can exhibit two-mode squeezing at the two inner sideband frequencies. By working in the dressed-state representation and hiring secular approximation, we give an analytical explanation for the effect. The result shows, under appropriate conditions, the squeezing can be greatly enhanced by appropriately tuning the cavity resonant frequency.     

A proposal for Ramsey interferences when spontaneous emission can occur between two interaction zones

The possibility of observing Ramsey fringes in situations where the time separation between two interaction zones is larger than the lifetime is discussed. The spectral characteristics of emission exhibit interferences which are shown to be due to the fact that the spontaneous emission event can occur in two different zones and thus erasing any Welcher-Weg information.It is indeed a great honor for me to contribute an article on the occasion of H. Walther's 60th birthday     

Superradiant Rayleigh scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate with the incident laser along the long axis

We have realized the superradiant Rayleigh scattering in an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate, where the pump laser pulse travels along the long axis. In this incident configuration the spatial asymmetries and the backward scattering pattern are reported. The spatial and temporal evolution of the superradiant process is analyzed by our semiclassical model.     

Spectrum of thermal fluctuations of electromagnetic field near resonance frequencies in a cavity with a finite Q-factor

The energy distribution of a thermal electromagnetic field in a cavity with a finite (but big) Q-factor is derived on the basis of the Rytov-Lifshitz theory of equilibrium electromagnetic fluctuations.     

Probe absorption spectra of a V-type atom embedded in PBG reservoir

In this paper, the probe absorption spectra of a V-type atom embedded in photonic band gap (PBG) reservoir have been investigated under conditions that quantum interference among decay channels is important. The effect of the probe polarization on the absorption amplitude and spectral structure is investigated in detail. Comparing with similar models located in vacuum reservoir studied earlier, the study here shows that the probe polarization has some different effects on the absorption spectra in PBG reservoir.     

Strong Correlation and Anticorrelation via Phase-Dependent Coherent Population Trapping

We present the phase control of photon correlations in a driven four-level system in the double lambda configuration. The strong correlation and the anticorrelation are. obtained when the collective phase of four applied laser fields is varied. The coherent control is based on the phase-dependent coherent population trapping （CPT）. The strong correlation occurs when the system operates near CPT, while the anticorrelation occurs when the system is far away from CPT.     

Autler-Townes triplet spectroscopy

We study the effects of quantum interference in the spontaneous emission spectrum of a four-level driven atomic system. We use three strong laser fields to drive the atom and a weak laser field to prepare the initial state of the atom. The atomic system exhibits Autler-Townes triplet in the spectrum. The single Lorentzian peak splits into triplet and their widths are controlled by the relative strengths of the laser fields.     

Laser cooling force in noisy quadrature of squeezed light

The laser cooling of atoms is a result of the combined effect of Doppler shift, light shift and polarization gradient. These are the phenomena which generally introduce frequency shift and uncertainty. However, they combine gainfully in realizing laser cooling and trapping of the atoms. In this paper we discuss the laser cooling of atoms in the presence of the squeezed light with the decay of atomic dipole moment into noisy quadrature. We show that the higher decay rate of the atomic dipole moment into the noisy quadrature, which leads to decrease in the signal to noise ratio, may contribute in realizing larger cooling force vis-à-vis with coherent laser light.     

Two-Time Intensity Correlations and Multiple Interference Mechanisms in a Driven Cascade Atom

We examine the intensity correlation functions of the two fluorescent fields that are emitted from the top and middle states of a doubly driven three-level atom in the cascade configuration. Novel interference effects are shown. （i） Both of the fluorescent fields have anticorrelations which can exist for long times when the applied fields are on the two-photon resonance and far off one.photon resonances. （ii） Both of the fluorescent fields have strong correlations when the applied fields are far off one- and two-photon resonances. In particular, the extremely strong correlation occurs for the photons emitted from the top state. The above phenomena are traced to the multiple interference mechanisms.     

Effects of quantum interference on the spontaneous emission in a coherently driven three-level atom

A new scheme of the influence of quantum interference on the spontaneous emission in a coherently driven three-level medium is presented in this paper. The results are the same with that discussed by [S.-Y. Zhu, L.M. Narducci, M.O. Scully, Phys. Rev. A 52, 4791 (1995)] under resonance conditions, but they are different when the driven field is detuned. Received 8 September 1999 and Received in final form 13 January 2000