Nonlinear optical media of Kerr type are described by a particular version of an anharmonic quantum harmonic oscillator. The dynamics of this system can be described using the Moyal equations of motion, which correspond to a quantum phase-space representation of the Heisenberg equations of motion. For the Kerr system we derive exact solutions of the Moyal equations for an irreducible set of observables. These Moyal solutions incorporate the asymptotics of the classical limit in a simple, explicit form. An unusual feature of these solutions is that they exhibit periodic singularities in the time variable. These singularities are removed by the phase-space averaging required to construct the expectation value for an arbitrary initial state. Nevertheless, for strongly number-squeezed initial states the effects of the singularity remain observable.
Nonlinear optical media of Kerr type are described by a particular version of an anharmonic quantum harmonic oscillator. The dynamics of this system can be described using the Moyal equations of motion, which correspond to a quantum phase-space representation of the Heisenberg equations of motion. For the Kerr system we derive exact solutions of the Moyal equations for an irreducible set of observables. These Moyal solutions incorporate the asymptotics of the classical limit in a simple, explicit form. An unusual feature of these solutions is that they exhibit periodic singularities in the time variable. These singularities are removed by the phase-space averaging required to construct the expectation value for an arbitrary initial state. Nevertheless, for strongly number-squeezed initial states the effects of the singularity remain observable.
States of nonlinear quantum oscillators (f-oscillators) are considered in the Weyl–Wigner–Moyal representation and the tomographic probability representation, where the states are described by standard probability distributions instead of wave functions or density matrices. The evolving integrals of motion for classical and quantum f-oscillators are found and the solution for the Liouville equation associated with the probability distribution on the phase space for this oscillator is obtained along with the solution of the Moyal equation for the quantum f-oscillator, which provide solutions for the partial case of f-nonlinearity existing in Kerr media. Nonlinear coherent states and the thermodynamics of nonlinear oscillators are studied.
The interaction of coherent light with a nonlinear medium is modeled here by a general quantum anharmonic oscillator. The model is not exactly solvable in a closed analytical form. But we need operator solutions of the equations of motion corresponding to these models in order to study the quantum fluctuations of coherent light in nonlinear media. In the present work we derive approximate operator solutions. From these solutions we observe that there exists an apparent discrepancy between the solutions obtained by different techniques. We compare different solutions and conclude that all correct solutions are equivalent and the apparent discrepancy is due to the use of different ordering of the operators. We use these solutions to investigate the possibilities of observing different optical phenomena in a nonlinear dielectric medium. To be precise, we have studied quantum phase fluctuations of coherent light in a third order inversion symmetric nonlinear medium. Fluctuations in phase space quadrature for the same system are studied and the possibility of generating squeezed state is reported. Fluctuations in photon number are studied and the nonclassical phenomenon of antibunching is predicted. We have generalized the results obtained for third order nonlinear medium and have studied the interaction of an intense laser beam with a general (m-1)-th order nonlinear medium. Aharanov Anandan nonadiabatic geometric phase is also discussed in the context of (m-1)-th order nonlinear medium.
Quantum statistical properties of interacting optical fields in Kerr nonlinear couplers may be regarded as one of the most fundamental problems yet to be solved in quantum optics. As an analytical solution to this system is not always possible, a semi-analytic or direct numerical solution must be employed in order to obtain a more complete description of their evolution. This study investigates the quantum properties of four-mode couplers composed of two and four Kerr nonlinear waveguides, both with and without cavity set up via phase space representation. In these systems, the electromagnetic fields are described by their Hamiltonians, while the time-evolution of the systems are described by the Von-Neumann equation. Following standard techniques, the master equations for the density matrices of the systems are obtained and further converted to the corresponding classical Fokker- Planck equations using both positive P and Wigner representations. The corresponding set of Langevin Stochastic equations is then obtained from the Fokker-Planck equations by means of Ito rules. Finally, the systems are integrated numerically and averaged over many trajectories to get the relevant information. The effects of self-action nonlinearity, cross-action coupling and the initial energy of the coherent light on the evolution of the field quadrature variances are investigated. Furthermore, the influences of multimode interaction on the dynamics of the squeezed states are discussed. In this research, we show that the system may produce squeezed states in both quadrature variances for all calculated parameters. The multimode two channel model can provide better squeezing in contrast to the conventional device. The amplitude oscillation of maximal squeezing may be amplified by manipulation of the initial state of the coherent light in the first mode, and the range may be extended through multimode interaction. When the model is contained in a cavity, the system is able to generate better amplitude oscillations and squeezing range with leaf-revival-collapse-like behaviour; with the whole oscillation able to evolute below the standard quantum limit Regular photon transition and self trapping effects of the interacting modes in the four channels model are simulated, and squeezing is predicted for various initial intensities of the coherent field and nonlinear coupling parameter g. The cavity setup caused the system to undergo fluctuation amplification and the potential for different types of squeezing to be generated is observed. Depending on how we choose the interaction parameter values, the system may generate better squeezing in comparison to the cavity-less model.
The generation of squeezed states of light in a two-mode Kerr nonlinear directional coupler (NLDC) was investigated using two different methods in quantum mechanics. First, the analytical method, a Heisenberg-picture-based method where the operators are evolving in time but the state vectors are time-independent. In this method, an analytical solution to the coupled Heisenberg equations of motion for the propagating modes was proposed based on the Baker–Hausdorff (BH) formula. Second, the phase space method, a Schrödinger-picture-based method in which the operators are constant and the density matrix evolves in time. In this method, the quantum mechanical master equation of the density matrix was converted to a corresponding classical Fokker–Planck (FP) equation in positive-P representation. Then, the FP equation was converted to a set of stochastic differential equations using Ito rules. The strengths and weaknesses of each method are discussed. Good agreement between both methods was achieved, especially at early evolution stages and lower values of linear coupling coefficient. On one hand, the analytical method seems insensitive to higher values of nonlinear coupling coefficients. Nevertheless, it demonstrated better numerical stability. On the other hand, the solution of the stochastic equations resulting from the phase space method is numerically expensive as it requires averaging over thousands of trajectories. Besides, numerically unstable trajectories appear with positive-P representation at higher values of nonlinearity.
In this chapter we review a number of quantum features of optical fields associated with propagation of intense light through nonlinear, isotropic media. We begin with the classical description of field propagation, introducing the nonlinear polarization of the medium which enters as the source term into the approximate field equations obtained from the Maxwell equations in the slowly varying amplitude approximation. This establishes the classical background for further quantum considerations. Next, we quantize the field and construct the effective Hamiltonian from which we get equations of motion for the quantum fields. We discuss a number of quantum effects such as photon antibunching, squeezing, the formation of Schrodinger cats and kittens, changes in field polarization due to the quantum nature of the field, as well as the quantum description of the field phase. The characteristic feature of quantum evolution — the periodicity — is strongly affected by dissipation. We give exact analytical formulae describing the quantum evolution of the field, including dissipation. We have collected results illustrating various aspects of quantum evolution and we believe that this review, although far from complete, will be a useful source of information on the subject.
Parametrically driven Kerr nonlinear quantum oscillator plays a central role in quantum optics, superconducting circuits, and in engineered light-matter interactions. For the development of future quantum technologies, it is crucial to understand the behavior of this quantum system under realistic dissipative conditions. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the phase-space dynamics of a dissipative Kerr nonlinear oscillator under different driving regimes and corresponding dissipation channels, with a particular focus on the emergence of nonclassical features in phase space. The aim is also to understand how nonlinearity and different driving mechanisms influence quantum properties such as coherence, nonclassicality, and phase-space structure. The analysis was carried out using the Wigner phase-space formalism and numerical simulations of the Lindblad master equation. The results show that in the case of finite nonlinearity the coherence time is prolonged compared to the harmonic case. In the single photon regime, the interplay between the photon drive and nonlinearity can lead to coherence revivals after which the system relaxes into a squeezed steady state. In the two photon and dissipation regime, the system exhibits parity-protected dynamics, leading to very long coherence times.