We derive a Markovian master equation for the internal dynamics of an ensemble of two-level atoms including all effects related to the quantization of their motion. Our equation provides a unifying picture of the consequences of recoil and indistinguishability of atoms beyond the Lamb-Dicke regime on both their dissipative and conservative dynamics, and applies equally well to distinguishable and indistinguishable atoms. We give general expressions for the decay rates and the dipole-dipole shifts for any motional states, and we find closed-form formulas for a number of relevant states (Gaussian states, Fock states, and thermal states). In particular, we show that dipole-dipole interactions and cooperative photon emission can be modulated through the external state of motion.
We derive a Markovian master equation for the internal dynamics of an ensemble of two-level atoms including all effects related to the quantization of their motion. Our equation provides a unifying picture of the consequences of recoil and indistinguishability of atoms beyond the Lamb-Dicke regime on both their dissipative and conservative dynamics, and applies equally well to distinguishable and indistinguishable atoms. We give general expressions for the decay rates and the dipole-dipole shifts for any motional states, and we find closed-form formulas for a number of relevant states (Gaussian states, Fock states, and thermal states). In particular, we show that dipole-dipole interactions and cooperative photon emission can be modulated through the external state of motion.
We derive a markovian master equation for the internal dynamics of an ensemble of two-level atoms including all effects related to the quantization of their motion [1]. Our equation provides a unifying picture of the consequences of recoil and in- distinguishability of atoms beyond the Lamb-Dicke regime on both their dissipative and conservative dynamics, and is relevant for experiments with ultracold trapped atoms. We give general expressions for the decay rates and the dipole-dipole shifts for any motional states, and we find analytical formulas for a number of relevant states (Gaussian states, Fock states and thermal states). In particular, we show that the dipole-dipole interactions and cooperative photon emission can be modulated through the external state of motion. The effects predicted should be experimen- tally observable with Rydberg atoms [2]. [1] F. Damanet, D. Braun, and J. Martin, arXiv:1512.06676v2. [2] K. Afrousheh, P. Bohlouli-Zanjani, D. Vagale, A. Mugford, M. Fedorov, and J. D. D. Martin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 233001 (2004)
We investigate superradiance and subradiance of indistinguishable atoms with quantized motional states, starting with an initial total state that factorizes over the internal and external degrees of freedom of the atoms. Due to the permutational symmetry of the motional state, the cooperative spontaneous emission, governed by a recently derived master equation [F. Damanet et al., Phys. Rev. A 93, 022124 (2016)], depends only on two decay rates $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{0}$ and a single parameter ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}}_{\mathrm{dd}}$ describing the dipole-dipole shifts. We solve the dynamics exactly for N=2 atoms, numerically for up to 30 atoms, and obtain the large-N limit by a mean-field approach. We find that there is a critical difference ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{0}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ that depends on N beyond which superradiance is lost. We show that exact nontrivial dark states (i.e., states other than the ground state with vanishing spontaneous emission) only exist for $\ensuremath{\gamma}={\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{0}$ and that those states (dark when $\ensuremath{\gamma}={\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{0}$) are subradiant when $\ensuremath{\gamma}<{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{0}$.
Master equations are derived for the time evolution of density-matrix elements characterizing atoms interacting with classical radiation fields that drive transitions between electronic-state manifolds of levels. The atomic center-of-mass motion is quantized and recoil accompanying absorption, stimulated emission, and spontaneous emission is included. An adiabatic elimination of the optical coherences is used to obtain quantum rate equations for ground- and excited-state density-matrix elements. Subsequent adiabatic elimination of excited-state density-matrix elements results in rate equations for the slow evolution of ground-state density-matrix elements. It is shown that recoil during spontaneous emission mixes spatial and internal atomic degrees of freedom. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
The Dicke model describes the coherent interaction of a laser-driven ensemble of two-level atoms with a quantized light field. It is realized within cavity QED experiments, which in addition to the coherent Dicke dynamics feature dissipation due to, e.g., atomic spontaneous emission and cavity photon loss. Spontaneous emission supports the uncorrelated decay of individual atomic excitations as well as the enhanced collective decay of an excitation that is shared by N atoms and whose strength is determined by the cavity geometry. We derive a many-body master equation for the dissipative Dicke model including both spontaneous emission channels and analyze its dynamics on the basis of Heisenberg-Langevin and stochastic Bloch equations. We find that the collective loss channel leads to a region of bistability between the empty and the superradiant state. Transitions between these states are driven by nonthermal Markovian noise. The interplay between dissipative and coherent elements leads to a genuine nonequilibrium dynamics in the bistable regime, which is expressed via a nonconservative force and a multiplicative noise kernel appearing in the stochastic Bloch equations. We present a semiclassical approach, based on stochastic nonlinear optical Bloch equations, which for the infinite-range Dicke model become exact in the large-N-limit. The absence of an effective free-energy functional, however, necessitates the inclusion of fluctuation corrections with O(1/N) for finite $N<\ensuremath{\infty}$ to locate the nonthermal first-order phase transition between the superradiant and the empty cavity.
In the effective Hamiltonian representation, we have obtained a quantum stochastic differential equation of a generalized Langevin type for the evolution operator of an atomic ensemble in a microcavity in an external broadband quantized field and in a nonresonant field of the microcavity. We show that, depending on the number of particles in the atomic ensemble, its dynamics demonstrates both the Langevin and the generalized Langevin types of the two-photon spontaneous decay. In this case, one photon is emitted into the cavity mode, whereas the other photon is emitted into the external broadband electromagnetic field. The Langevin type is determined by a considerable Stark interaction of the atomic ensemble with the broadband photon-free quantized field. We show that, here, the Stark interaction is represented by a quantized Poisson process and, depending on its magnitude (at certain numbers of atoms in the ensemble), the two-photon collective spontaneous emission of microcavity atoms can be completely suppressed. In this case, the two-photon spontaneous emission of the singly excited atomic ensemble is described by the two-level model, while the atom-photon cluster of the microcavity under the described conditions is an artificial two-level quantum particle with a strong Stark interaction.
A general theory of spontaneous emission was developed in Papers I and II of this series. In the present paper, the mastre equation describing spontaneous emission from N identical two-level atoms is investigated further. It is shown that the equation of motion for the p(<N)-atom density matrix is coupled to the (p+1)-atom density matrix. We first consider the initial excitation of the system to state $|{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{0},{\ensuremath{\phi}}_{0}〉$ (${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{0}<\ensuremath{\pi}$) and solve the hierarchy of equations so obtained in the "uncorrelated approximation." It is found that the presence of other atoms is equivalent to an external field which is determined from a self-consistent analysis. It is also found that in this approximation the state of the atom at time t can be described by a single parameter $\ensuremath{\theta}(t)$ ($\ensuremath{\theta}<\ensuremath{\pi}$), with ${sin}^{2}\frac{1}{2}\ensuremath{\theta}$ giving the probability that the atom is to be found in the excited state. Next, some improvements over the uncorrelated approximation are given. This is done by decoupling the equation of motion for higher-order mean values. It is found that the fluctuation $〈({S}_{i}^{Z}\ensuremath{-}〈{S}_{i}^{Z}〉)({S}_{j}^{Z}\ensuremath{-}〈{S}_{j}^{Z}〉)〉$ for any pair of atoms is of the order of N1. The case when ${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{0}=\ensuremath{\pi}$ is considered separately and we obtain an expression for the radiation rate by making a "Hartree-Fock" type of approximation on the two-particle mean values. In this case, the behavior of the radiation rate is found to differ markedly from the "sech" behavior. It is then shown that the entire dynamics of two-level atoms emitting spontaneously can be described by a set of 2N coupled first-order equations which clearly exhibit the type of nonlinearity (which is the analog of the van der Pol type of nonlinearity) for this problem and provide a better understanding of spontaneous emission. Finally in Sec. V, the theory is extended to include the effects of inhomogeneous broadening, and the functional dependence of the radiation rate on the atomic-line-shape factor is obtained.