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Physical Review A

Monte Carlo simulation of master equations in quantum optics for vacuum, thermal, and squeezed reservoirs

Ralph Dum, A. S. Parkins, P. Zoller, Crispin W. Gardiner

Published Oct 1, 1992• 245 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Wave-function simulation of the master equation in terms of quantum jumps is illustrated for vacuum, thermal, and squeezed reservoirs. We discuss simulation techniques for (i) atomic density matrices, and resonance fluoresence and weak-field absorption spectra of atoms, (ii) decay of a two-level system in a squeezed vacuum, and (iii) a strongly coupled atom-cavity system driven by thermal light.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.46.4382

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Wave-function simulation of the master equation in terms of quantum jumps is illustrated for vacuum, thermal, and squeezed reservoirs. We discuss simulation techniques for (i) atomic density matrices, and resonance fluoresence and weak-field absorption spectra of atoms, (ii) decay of a two-level system in a squeezed vacuum, and (iii) a strongly coupled atom-cavity system driven by thermal light.
We discuss Monte Carlo simulation of the quantum master equation in terms of system wave functions undergoing a sequence of quantum jumps based on the delay function for the occurrence of the “next jump”.1-3 The formalism can be applied to calculate the density operator and correlation functions (spectra) in quantum systems with a large number of degrees of freedom. We present the formalism and applications to (i) a multilevel atom undergoing spontaneous emission including mechanical light effects (in particular, laser cooling in the quantum limit), (ii) coupling of an atomic system to a squeezed vacuum, and (iii) cavity QED problems with coupling to thermal and squeezed baths.
A Monte Carlo simulation of the atomic master equation for spontaneous emission in terms of atomic wave functions is developed. Realizations of the time evolution of atomic wave functions are constructed that correspond to an ensemble of atoms driven by laser light undergoing a sequence of spontaneous emissions. The atomic decay times are drawn according to the photon count distribution of the driven atom. Each quantum jump of the atomic electron projects the atomic wave function to the ground state of the atom. Our theory is based on a stochastic interpretation and generalization of Mollow's pure-state analysis of resonant light scattering, and the Srinivas-Davies theory of continuous measurements in photodetection. An extension of the theory to include mechanical light effects and a generalization to atomic systems with Zeeman substructure are given. We illustrate the method by simulating the solutions of the optical Bloch equations for two-level systems, and laser cooling of a two-level atom in an ion trap where the center-of-mass motion of the atom is described quantum mechanically.
Very recently there have been a number of papers discussing the applicability of stochastic methods as an alternative to the usual treatment of master equations in quantum mechanics.1-5 In this paper we present a wave function approach including a stochastic element to study the evolution of a small system when it is coupled to a reservoir. We show how fluctuations and dissipation originate from quantum jumps occuring randomly during the time evolution of the system, and we present a physical interpretation of the procedure. We demonstrate how this treatment may replace a wide class of master equations, and its use in problems with a large number of states N is discussed. Since the density matrix has N ×N elements, where a wave function is determined by only N variables, there is a computational advantage in using the wave function procedure. This is illustrated by calculations on cooling atoms in a laser field.
If a broadband squeezed vacuum is treated as a reservoir with respect to a two-level atom, the non-zero phase-dependent reservoir correlation functions characterizing the squeezed vacuum introduce `squeezing terms' to the master equation. These terms are responsible, for example, for the well known narrowing of the spectral lines in the resonance fluorescence spectrum of the atom. For a squeezed vacuum reservoir with finite bandwidth it is possible to derive the master equation that is consistent with the Born-Markov approximation by a two-step procedure which consists in dressing the atom first and next coupling it to the finite-bandwidth reservoir. The master equation is valid whenever the bandwidth of the reservoir is much broader than the atomic linewidth but not necessarily broader than the Rabi frequency. This procedure can be applied not only for the squeezed vacuum reservoir but also for the ordinary vacuum with the structure of the mode density that is not flat, e.g., modelled by a Lorentzian function as in a cavity. The master equation for this case, in the operator form, shows some similarities to the master equation for the squeezed vacuum reservoir due to the presence of the `squeezing-like terms'. The similarities and differences of the two master equations are discussed in this paper.
We present a wave-function approach to the study of the evolution of a small system when it is coupled to a large reservoir. Fluctuations and dissipation originate in this approach from quantum jumps that occur randomly during the time evolution of the system. This approach can be applied to a wide class of relaxation operators in the Markovian regime, and it is equivalent to the standard master-equation approach. For systems with a number of states N much larger than unity this Monte Carlo wave-function approach can be less expensive in terms of calculation time than the master-equation treatment. Indeed, a wave function involves only N components, whereas a density matrix is described by N2 terms. We evaluate the gain in computing time that may be expected from such a formalism, and we discuss its applicability to several examples, with particular emphasis on a quantum description of laser cooling.
A two level atom driven by a strong resonant field and coupled to a structured reservoir is studied. The generalized master equation describing the evolution of the atom is derived under the Born-Markov approximation. To derive the master equation the dressing transformation on the atomic operators is performed first and next the dressed operators are coupled to the reservoir and the corresponding damping rates are calculated. The modifications introduced by a strong field and/or by the reservoir with non-flat density of modes lead to non-standard terms in the master equation, some of which are reminiscent of terms known for squeezed vacuum reservoirs although the reservoir is not a squeezed vacuum. The optical Bloch equations based on this generalized master equation are obtained and solved for the steady state. The resonance fluorescence spectra of the atom are shortly discussed.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.