Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review Letters

Inducing Disallowed Two-Atom Transitions with Temporally Entangled Photons

Ashok Muthukrishnan, G. S. Agarwal, Marlan O. Scully

Published Aug 25, 2004• 75 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Two uncoupled two-level atoms cannot be jointly excited by classical light under general circumstances, due to destructive interference of excitation pathways in two-photon absorption. However, with temporally entangled light, two-atom excitation is shown possible. Photons arising from three-level cascade decay are intrinsically ordered in time of emission. This field correlation induces a joint resonance in the two-atom excitation probability via suppression of one of the time-ordered excitation pathways. The relative gain in two-photon absorption increases with the time-frequency entanglement.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.93.093002

Related papers

Using entangled photons to induce two-atom transitions

Ashok Muthukrishnan, G. S. Agarwal, Marlan O. Scully

We show how temporal or frequency entanglement in a two-photon pure state produced by a three-level cascade source enables the joint excitation of two uncoupled, two-level atoms. Consequences for quantum metrology and information are explored.

Frontiers in Optics•Jan 1, 2004•0 citations

Collective two-particle resonances induced by photon entanglement

Marten Richter, Shaul Mukamel

An assembly of noninteracting atoms may become correlated upon interaction with entangled photons, and certain elements of their joint density matrix can then show collective resonances. We explore experimental signatures of these resonances in the nonlinear response of a pair of two-level atoms. We find that these resonances are canceled out in stimulated signals such as pump-probe and two-photon absorption due to the destructive interference of two-photon-absorption and emission pathways in the joint two-particle space. However, they may be observed in photon statistics (Hanbury-Brown--Twiss) measurements through the attenuation of two-time intensity correlations.

Physical Review A•Jun 8, 2011•24 citations

Optimization of two-photon excitation by indistinguishable photons in a three-level atom

Masood Valipour, Gniewomir Sarbicki, Karolina Słowik +1 more

We investigate the excitation of a three-level ladder-type atom by a unidirectional field with a pair of indistinguishable photons. Starting from an analytical expression for the two-photon absorption probability, we determine the two-photon state that maximizes the population of the upper atomic state at a chosen time and show that in the limit of an infinitely long pulse, perfect excitation is possible. The optimal state is identified as the time-reversed counterpart of the two-photon state emitted in spontaneous cascade decay. We then compare this ideal excitation strategy with experimentally accessible families of states, including symmetrized Gaussian product states, temporally correlated Gaussian states, and coherent pulses. We analyze how the optimal excitation conditions depend on the ratio of atomic decay rates and on the separation of the atomic transition frequencies. For indistinguishable photons, quantum interference may shift the maxima of the marginal spectral distribution away from the atomic resonances and qualitatively modify the optimal excitation strategy. Our results clarify the role of indistinguishability and correlations in two-photon absorption and provide guidance for designing realistic excitation schemes in quantum-optical light-matter interfaces.

quant-pharXiv:2604.24560•Physical Review A•Apr 28, 2026•0 citations

Multiphoton quantum interference on a dipole-forbidden transition

Uzma Akram, Jörg Evers, Christoph H. Keitel

We investigate the effect of an intense low-frequency field on the population decay of an excited two-level atom, where the two states are connected by a dipole-forbidden transition. In addition to the natural two-photon spontaneous decay, the low-frequency field gives rise to induced two-photon processes, where one of the two photons is spontaneous. Due to the low frequency of the applied field, the induced decay pathways may interfere with each other. We show how varying the parameters of the applied field allows switching between constructive and destructive interference, thereby increasing or decreasing the induced transition rate as compared to the rate without interference. As all relevant competing transitions are of the same multiphoton order, the system is a promising candidate to verify the idea of spontaneous-emission interference induced by multiphoton pathways experimentally.

Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•Feb 8, 2005•6 citations

Do entangled photons induce two-photon two-atom transitions more eciently than other states of light ?

Zhan Zheng, Pablo L. Saldanha, J. R. Rios Leite +1 more

We study in this paper the efficiency of different two-photon states of light to induce the simultaneous excitation of two atoms of different kinds when the sum of the energies of the two photons matches the sum of the energies of the two atomic transitions, while no photons are resonant with each individual transition. We find that entangled two-photon states produced by an atomic cascade are indeed capable of enhancing by a large factor the simultaneous excitation probability as compared to uncorrelated photons, as predicted some years ago by Muthukrishnan et al, but that several non-entangled, separable, correlated states, produced either by an atomic cascade or parametric down conversion, or even appropriate combinations of coher- ent states, have comparable efficiencies. We show that the key ingredient for the increase of simultaneous excitation probability is the presence of strong frequency anti-correlation and not time correlation nor time-frequency entanglement.

•Mar 20, 2013•1 citation

Do entangled photons induce two-photon two-atom transitions more efficiently than other states of light ?

Zhan Zheng, Pablo L. Saldanha, J. R. Rios Leite +1 more

We study in this paper the efficiency of different two-photon states of light to induce the simultaneous excitation of two atoms of different kinds when the sum of the energies of the two photons matches the sum of the energies of the two atomic transitions, while no photons are resonant with each individual transition. We find that entangled two-photon states produced by an atomic cascade are indeed capable of enhancing by a large factor the simultaneous excitation probability as compared to uncorrelated photons, as predicted some years ago by Muthukrishnan et al, but that several non-entangled, separable, correlated states, produced either by an atomic cascade or parametric down conversion, or even appropriate combinations of coher- ent states, have comparable efficiencies. We show that the key ingredient for the increase of simultaneous excitation probability is the presence of strong frequency anti-correlation and not time correlation nor time-frequency entanglement.

arXiv:1303.5043•Mar 20, 2013•0 citations
Two uncoupled two-level atoms cannot be jointly excited by classical light under general circumstances, due to destructive interference of excitation pathways in two-photon absorption. However, with temporally entangled light, two-atom excitation is shown possible. Photons arising from three-level cascade decay are intrinsically ordered in time of emission. This field correlation induces a joint resonance in the two-atom excitation probability via suppression of one of the time-ordered excitation pathways. The relative gain in two-photon absorption increases with the time-frequency entanglement.
An assembly of noninteracting atoms may become correlated upon interaction with entangled photons, and certain elements of their joint density matrix can then show collective resonances. We explore experimental signatures of these resonances in the nonlinear response of a pair of two-level atoms. We find that these resonances are canceled out in stimulated signals such as pump-probe and two-photon absorption due to the destructive interference of two-photon-absorption and emission pathways in the joint two-particle space. However, they may be observed in photon statistics (Hanbury-Brown--Twiss) measurements through the attenuation of two-time intensity correlations.
We investigate the excitation of a three-level ladder-type atom by a unidirectional field with a pair of indistinguishable photons. Starting from an analytical expression for the two-photon absorption probability, we determine the two-photon state that maximizes the population of the upper atomic state at a chosen time and show that in the limit of an infinitely long pulse, perfect excitation is possible. The optimal state is identified as the time-reversed counterpart of the two-photon state emitted in spontaneous cascade decay. We then compare this ideal excitation strategy with experimentally accessible families of states, including symmetrized Gaussian product states, temporally correlated Gaussian states, and coherent pulses. We analyze how the optimal excitation conditions depend on the ratio of atomic decay rates and on the separation of the atomic transition frequencies. For indistinguishable photons, quantum interference may shift the maxima of the marginal spectral distribution away from the atomic resonances and qualitatively modify the optimal excitation strategy. Our results clarify the role of indistinguishability and correlations in two-photon absorption and provide guidance for designing realistic excitation schemes in quantum-optical light-matter interfaces.
We investigate the effect of an intense low-frequency field on the population decay of an excited two-level atom, where the two states are connected by a dipole-forbidden transition. In addition to the natural two-photon spontaneous decay, the low-frequency field gives rise to induced two-photon processes, where one of the two photons is spontaneous. Due to the low frequency of the applied field, the induced decay pathways may interfere with each other. We show how varying the parameters of the applied field allows switching between constructive and destructive interference, thereby increasing or decreasing the induced transition rate as compared to the rate without interference. As all relevant competing transitions are of the same multiphoton order, the system is a promising candidate to verify the idea of spontaneous-emission interference induced by multiphoton pathways experimentally.
We study in this paper the efficiency of different two-photon states of light to induce the simultaneous excitation of two atoms of different kinds when the sum of the energies of the two photons matches the sum of the energies of the two atomic transitions, while no photons are resonant with each individual transition. We find that entangled two-photon states produced by an atomic cascade are indeed capable of enhancing by a large factor the simultaneous excitation probability as compared to uncorrelated photons, as predicted some years ago by Muthukrishnan et al, but that several non-entangled, separable, correlated states, produced either by an atomic cascade or parametric down conversion, or even appropriate combinations of coher- ent states, have comparable efficiencies. We show that the key ingredient for the increase of simultaneous excitation probability is the presence of strong frequency anti-correlation and not time correlation nor time-frequency entanglement.
We study in this paper the efficiency of different two-photon states of light to induce the simultaneous excitation of two atoms of different kinds when the sum of the energies of the two photons matches the sum of the energies of the two atomic transitions, while no photons are resonant with each individual transition. We find that entangled two-photon states produced by an atomic cascade are indeed capable of enhancing by a large factor the simultaneous excitation probability as compared to uncorrelated photons, as predicted some years ago by Muthukrishnan et al, but that several non-entangled, separable, correlated states, produced either by an atomic cascade or parametric down conversion, or even appropriate combinations of coher- ent states, have comparable efficiencies. We show that the key ingredient for the increase of simultaneous excitation probability is the presence of strong frequency anti-correlation and not time correlation nor time-frequency entanglement.