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arXiv:1605.09253 · Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment

Ultimate statistical physics: fluorescence of a single atom

Yves Pomeau A, Martine Le Berre, J. Ginibre

Published Oct 1, 2016• 11 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract We discuss the statistics of emission of photons by a single atom or ion illuminated by a laser beam at the frequency of quasi-resonance between two energy levels, a situation that corresponds to real experiments. We extend this to the case of two laser beams resonant with the energy differences between two excited levels and the ground state (three level atom in V-configuration). We use a novel approach to this type of problem by considering a Kolmogorov equation for the probability distribution of the atomic state, which takes into account first the deterministic evolution of this state under the effect of the incoming laser beam and second the random emission of photons during the spontaneous decay of the excited state(s) to the ground state. This approach yields solvable equations in the two level atom case. For the three level atom case we set the problem and clearly define its frame. The results obtained are valid in both opposite limits of rare and frequent spontaneous decay, compared to the period of the optical Rabi oscillations due to the interaction between resonant excitation and atomic levels. Our analysis gives access to various statistical properties of the fluorescence light, including one showing that its fluctuations in time are not invariants under time reversal. This result makes evident the fundamentally irreversible character of quantum measurements, represented here by the emission of photons of fluorescence.

DOI
10.1088/1742-5468/2016/10/104002

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The Journal of Physical Chemistry A•Apr 1, 2014•1 citation
Abstract We discuss the statistics of emission of photons by a single atom or ion illuminated by a laser beam at the frequency of quasi-resonance between two energy levels, a situation that corresponds to real experiments. We extend this to the case of two laser beams resonant with the energy differences between two excited levels and the ground state (three level atom in V-configuration). We use a novel approach to this type of problem by considering a Kolmogorov equation for the probability distribution of the atomic state, which takes into account first the deterministic evolution of this state under the effect of the incoming laser beam and second the random emission of photons during the spontaneous decay of the excited state(s) to the ground state. This approach yields solvable equations in the two level atom case. For the three level atom case we set the problem and clearly define its frame. The results obtained are valid in both opposite limits of rare and frequent spontaneous decay, compared to the period of the optical Rabi oscillations due to the interaction between resonant excitation and atomic levels. Our analysis gives access to various statistical properties of the fluorescence light, including one showing that its fluctuations in time are not invariants under time reversal. This result makes evident the fundamentally irreversible character of quantum measurements, represented here by the emission of photons of fluorescence.
The randomness of some irreversible quantum phenomena is a central question because irreversible phenomena break quantum coherence and thus yield an irreversible loss of information. The case of quantum jumps observed in the fluorescence of a single two-level atom illuminated by a quasi-resonant laser beam is a worked example where statistical interpretations of quantum mechanics still meet some difficulties because the basic equations are fully deterministic and unitary. In such a problem with two different time scales, the atom makes coherent optical Rabi oscillations between the two states, interrupted by random emissions (quasi-instantaneous) of photons where coherence is lost. To describe this system, we already proposed a novel approach, which is completed here. It amounts to putting a probability on the density matrix of the atom and deducing a general "kinetic Kolmogorov-like" equation for the evolution of the probability. In the simple case considered here, the probability only depends on a single variable θ describing the state of the atom, and p(θ,t) yields the statistical properties of the atom under the joint effects of coherent pumping and random emission of photons. We emphasize that p(θ,t) allows the description of all possible histories of the atom, as in Everett's many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. This yields solvable equations in the two-level atom case.
Resonance fluorescence from a single two-level atom driven by a beam of squeezed light is studied in the weak-field limit. We consider the situation where the atom is coupled to the ordinary vacuum and only a few field modes corresponding to the driving field are squeezed. The field produced by the degenerate optical parametric oscillator is used as the driving field. Heisenberg equations of motion are solved in the steady-state and analytic expressions for the fluorescent-light intensity and the spectrum of fluorescent light are derived. We also consider photon statistics of fluorescent light. In particular, squeezing, antibunching, and sub-Poissonian statistics of fluorescent photons are discussed, and analytic expressions for the quadrature variance and the two-time intensity correlation function are presented. Contrary to the case of coherent excitation, the second-order intensity correlation function does not factorize. This and other differences are discussed, and curves are presented to illustrate the behavior of various quantities. We also present results for thermal excitation of the atom.
We consider the possible physical processes that may arise in a three-level atom when only two of its levels interact with a strong electromagnetic field and when the atomic transition frequency is nearly equal to once and twice the frequency of the laser field, respectively. There have been found pronounced cooperative effects in the spectrum of the two-level system, which is in resonance with the laser field, arising from the presence of the third level. The excitation spectra describing the transitions from the first excited state into the second excited state and from that to the ground state consist, apart from the two central peaks, of two pairs of sidebands which are induced by the laser field of the neighbouring system. Detailed expressions of the spectral functions for the physical processes of one- and two-photon resonance fluorescence have been derived and discussed in the limit of high photon densities. The excitation spectrum of the low frequency modes has been considered and discussed in detail. It is found that quantum beats in spontaneous emission may appear in the spectra of the one- and two-photon resonance fluorescence arising from the interference between the two atomic transition frequencies and the frequency of the laser field. The importance of the low frequency modes that occur in the processes in question has been pointed out.
Resonance fluorescence from a single two-level atom driven by a beam of squeezed light is studied in the weak field limit. We consider the situation where the atom is coupled to the ordinary vacuum and only a few field modes corresponding to the driving field are squeezed. The field produced by the degenerate optical parametric oscillator is used as the driving field. This driving field can be described in terms of two real independent Gaussian processes. Heisenberg equations of motion are solved in the steady-state, and analytic expressions for the fluorescent light intensity and the spectrum of fluorescent light are derived. We also consider photon statistics of fluorescent light. In particular, squeezing, antibunching, and sub-Poissonian statistics of fluorescent photons are discussed and analytic expressions for the quadrature variance and the two-time intensity correlation function are presented. Contrary to the case of coherent excitation the second-order intensity correlation function does not factorize.
A single three-level atom with the ground state strongly coupled to an excited state and weakly coupled to a third intermediate state exhibits a telegraph signal of fluorescent emission when driven by laser light at the strong coupling frequency. The ``on'' periods correspond to normal resonance fluorescence, whereas the ``off'' periods correspond to the atom being ``shelved'' in the intermediate state. Such a system has interesting statistical properties. The photon statistics during the ``on'' periods correspond to two-level behavior and are close to Poisson in nature. However, the photon number distribution of a succession of ``on'' periods exhibits Bose-Einstein statistics. Thus the three-level system can exhibit both ``quiet'' and ``noisy'' behavior. The mathematical connection between the two cases is established, and an atomic beam experiment is described which records a mixture of the two statistical extremes. The composition of the mixture is varied, and the data are shown to be well represented by an analysis based upon the model developed.
We have studied the statistics of fluorescent photons emitted by a two-state atom in a laser beam in the limit where either the detuning or the Rabi frequency is large. For this case, the spectrum of resonance fluorescence has three separated lines. We have obtained closed form expressions for the conditional probability density for the emission of the nth photon and for the probability for emission of n photons in a time interval [0,T]. Our solutions are complementary to the known solutions for the case of perfect resonance.