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Fortschritte der Physik

Non-Markovian Quantum Optical Processes and Pseudomodes

Bryan J. Dalton, Stephen Mark Barnett, B. M. Garraway

Published Oct 1, 2001• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Non-Markovian behaviour in atomic systems coupled to a structured reservoir of quantum EM field modes, such as in high Q cavities, is treated using a quasimode description, and the pseudo mode theory for single quantum reservoir excitations is obtained via Fano diagonalisation. The atomic transitions are coupled to a discrete set of (cavity) quasimodes, which are also coupled to a continuum set of (external) quasimodes with slowly varying coupling constants. Each pseudomode corresponds to a cavity quasimode, and the original reservoir structure is obtained in expressions for the equivalent atom-true mode coupling constants. Cases of multiple excitation of the reservoir are now treatable via Markovian master equations for the atom-discrete quasimode system.

DOI
10.1002/1521-3978(200110)49:10/11<927::aid-prop927>3.0.co;2-f

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Non-Markovian behaviour in atomic systems coupled to a structured reservoir of quantum EM field modes, such as in high Q cavities, is treated using a quasimode description, and the pseudo mode theory for single quantum reservoir excitations is obtained via Fano diagonalisation. The atomic transitions are coupled to a discrete set of (cavity) quasimodes, which are also coupled to a continuum set of (external) quasimodes with slowly varying coupling constants. Each pseudomode corresponds to a cavity quasimode, and the original reservoir structure is obtained in expressions for the equivalent atom-true mode coupling constants. Cases of multiple excitation of the reservoir are now treatable via Markovian master equations for the atom-discrete quasimode system.
This paper deals with non-Markovian behavior in atomic systems coupled to a structured reservoir of quantum electromagnetic field modes, with particular relevance to atoms interacting with the field in high-Q cavities or photonic band-gap materials. In cases such as the former, we show that the pseudomode theory for single-quantum reservoir excitations can be obtained by applying the Fano diagonalization method to a system in which the atomic transitions are coupled to a discrete set of (cavity) quasimodes, which in turn are coupled to a continuum set of (external) quasimodes with slowly varying coupling constants and continuum mode density. Each pseudomode can be identified with a discrete quasimode, which gives structure to the actual reservoir of true modes via the expressions for the equivalent atom-true mode coupling constants. The quasimode theory enables cases of multiple excitation of the reservoir to now be treated via Markovian master equations for the atom-discrete quasimode system. Applications of the theory to one, two, and many discrete quasimodes are made. For a simple photonic band-gap model, where the reservoir structure is associated with the true mode density rather than the coupling constants, the single quantum excitation case appears to be equivalent to a case with two discrete quasimodes.
The dynamics of a three-level atom in a cascade configuration with both transitions coupled to a single structured reservoir of quantized field modes is treated using Laplace transform methods applied to the coupled amplitude equations. Results are also obtained from master equations by two different approaches, that is, involving either pseudomodes or quasimodes. Two different types of reservoir are considered, namely a high-Q cavity and a photonic band-gap system, in which the respective reservoir structure functions involve Lorentzians. Non-resonant transitions are included in the model. In all cases non-Markovian behaviour for the atomic system can be found, such as oscillatory decay for the high-Q cavity case and population trapping for the photonic band-gap case. In the master equation approaches, the atomic system is augmented by a small number of pseudomodes or quasimodes, which in the quasimode approach themselves undergo Markovian relaxation into a flat reservoir of continuum quasimodes. Results from these methods are found to be identical to those from the Laplace transform method including two-photon excitation of the reservoir with both emitting sequences. This shows that complicated non-Markovian decays of an atomic system into structured EM field reservoirs can be described by Markovian models for the atomic system coupled to a small number of pseudomodes or quasimodes.
This paper deals with atomic systems coupled to a structured reservoir of quantum EM field modes, with particular relevance to atoms interacting with the field in photonic band gap materials. The case of high Q cavities has been treated elsewhere using Fano diagonalization based on a quasimode approach, showing that the cavity quasimodes are responsible for pseudomodes introduced to treat non-Markovian behaviour. The paper considers a simple model of a photonic band gap case, where the spatially dependent permittivity consists of a constant term plus a small spatially periodic term that leads to a narrow band gap in the spectrum of mode frequencies. Most treatments of photonic band gap materials are based on the true modes, obtained numerically by solving the Helmholtz equation for the actual spatially periodic permittivity. Here the field modes are first treated in terms of a simpler quasimode approach, in which the quasimodes are plane waves associated with the constant permittivity term. Couplings between the quasimodes occur owing to the small periodic term in the permittivity, with selection rules for the coupled modes being related to the reciprocal lattice vectors. This produces a field Hamiltonian in quasimode form. A matrix diagonalization method may be applied to relate true mode annihilation operators to those for quasimodes. The atomic transitions are coupled to all the quasimodes, and the true mode atom-EM field coupling constants (one-photon Rabi frequencies) are related to those for the quasimodes and also expressions are obtained for the true mode density. The results for the one-photon Rabi frequencies differ from those assumed in other work. Expressions for atomic decay rates are obtained using the Fermi Golden rule, although these are valid only well away from the band gaps.
The interaction of a traveling pulse of quantum light with a localized quantum system shows non-Markovian features when scattering takes place in a structured environment. Here, we devise a non-Markovian input-output theory by coherently coupling the scatterer to a pseudomode, which decays into a Markovian reservoir. This incorporates memory effects of a structured environment without altering the cascaded nature of the Lindblad master equation, whose solution provides the quantum state of the output field of any desired mode. We apply our theory to the stimulated emission by a two-level atom, and to transmission of a Gaussian pulse through a cavity. We observe that the non-Markovian revival of coherence in the scatterer distorts the single-mode nature of the incoming pulse, thus resulting in a multimode output field.
The dynamics of a three-level atom in a cascade configuration with both transitions coupled to a single structured reservoir of quantized field modes is treated using Laplace transform methods applied to the coupled amplitude equations. Results are also obtained from master equations by two different approaches, that is, involving either pseudomodes or quasimodes. Two different types of reservoir are considered, namely a high-Q cavity and a photonic band-gap system, in which the respective reservoir structure functions involve Lorentzians. Non-resonant transitions are included in the model. In all cases non-Markovian behaviour for the atomic system can be found, such as oscillatory decay for the high-Q cavity case and population trapping for the photonic band-gap case. In the master equation approaches, the atomic system is augmented by a small number of pseudomodes or quasimodes, which in the quasimode approach themselves undergo Markovian relaxation into a flat reservoir of continuum quasimodes. Results from these methods are found to be identical to those from the Laplace transform method including two-photon excitation of the reservoir with both emitting sequences. This shows that complicated non-Markovian decays of an atomic system into structured EM field reservoirs can be described by Markovian models for the atomic system coupled to a small number of pseudomodes or quasimodes.
We study the Fano effect in dissipative cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), which originates from the interference between the emitter's direct radiation and that mediated by a cavity mode. Starting from a two-level system coupled to a structured reservoir, we show that a quantum master equation previously derived within the Born-Markov approximation can be rederived by introducing a single auxiliary mode through the pseudomode approach. We identify the corresponding spectral function of the system--environment interaction and show that it consists of a constant contribution and a non-Lorentzian contribution, whose interplay gives rise to a spectral profile of the Fano form. The constant contribution represents a Markovian background and is essential for obtaining a Lindblad master equation. Furthermore, by applying Fano diagonalization to an atom--cavity system coupled to common and independent reservoirs, we independently derive the same spectral function and clarify its physical origin. Our results provide a unified description of the Fano effect in single-mode cavity QED systems and reveal its non-Markovian origin encoded in the spectral function of the structured reservoir.