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Quantum Optics Journal of the European Optical Society Part B

Quantum beats revisited: a quantum jump approach

Gerhard C. Hegerfeldt, Martin Bodo Plenio

Published Feb 1, 1994• 45 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The term quantum beats refers to a superposed oscillatory behaviour in the light intensity emitted by some suddenly excited atomic systems in their subsequent decay. In this paper we reinvestigate quantum beats for systems where two upper levels may decay to a common ground state by using the recently developed approach of quantum jumps. The treatment turns out to be very simple and intuitive. It gives explicit expressions for the time-dependent intensity of the radiating system and allows us to exhibit several phenomena which so far seem to have been overlooked. We show that quantum beats may also occur if only one of the upper levels is initially excited, a superposition is not needed. A possible experimental set-up for the verification of this effect is proposed. It is also shown that in some cases the beat frequency may differ considerably from the separation delta omega of the upper levels. For equal Einstein coefficients of the upper levels the beats are shown to be unexpectedly absent for small delta omega .

DOI
10.1088/0954-8998/6/1/003

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The term quantum beats refers to a superposed oscillatory behaviour in the light intensity emitted by some suddenly excited atomic systems in their subsequent decay. In this paper we reinvestigate quantum beats for systems where two upper levels may decay to a common ground state by using the recently developed approach of quantum jumps. The treatment turns out to be very simple and intuitive. It gives explicit expressions for the time-dependent intensity of the radiating system and allows us to exhibit several phenomena which so far seem to have been overlooked. We show that quantum beats may also occur if only one of the upper levels is initially excited, a superposition is not needed. A possible experimental set-up for the verification of this effect is proposed. It is also shown that in some cases the beat frequency may differ considerably from the separation delta omega of the upper levels. For equal Einstein coefficients of the upper levels the beats are shown to be unexpectedly absent for small delta omega .
Quantum beats in the radiation field of "three-level" atoms are analyzed by means of a previously developed boson-second-quantization (BSQ) formalism. Two types of atoms are considered: type I, in which beats are due to transitions from each of two closely spaced upper levels to a single lower level, and type II, in which beats are due to transitions between a single upper level and each of two closely spaced lower levels. This classification is motivated by the claim found in the literature that semiclassical theory and quantum theory give qualitatively different results concerning the existence of beats in the case of type-II atoms. The terminology associated with beats is made precise by distinguishing between amplitude modulation at the beat frequency of the transition frequency field EEE, and the existence of a spectral component at the beat frequency in E2{E}^{2}E2. With respect to the former, no qualitative difference is found in the predictions from semiclassical theory and quantum theory; with respect to the latter, results that appear paradoxical from an intuitive viewpoint are discussed. It is shown that for the case in which the atoms are all in the same coherent superposition of energy states, with all levels occupied, semiclassical and quantum-mechanical results become equivalent as the number of atoms increases. Reference is made to the disturbance caused by the measurement processes in the case of a single atom. The essential difference in spontaneous emission beats between type-I and type-II atoms [with the ground state(s) unoccupied] is explained by the fact that the phase of the beat amplitude may be determined by preparation of the initial state in type-I atoms but may not be determined in type-II atoms.
Even with incoherent driving, coherence effects may show up in the spontaneous emissions of an atom. We derive a general master equation and predict that for both the three-level V and \ensuremath{\Lambda} systems the intensity correlation function g(2){\mathit{g}}^{(2)}g(2)(\ensuremath{\tau}) may exhibit pronounced oscillations with frequency \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\omega} if the level separation \ensuremath{\Elzxh}\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\omega} is small. We obtain a marked difference in the beat amplitude for a single \ensuremath{\Lambda} system as compared to a beam or gas. If \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\omega} is much smaller than the natural linewidth we find dark and light periods in the spontaneous emission.
Entangled multiparticle quantum states cannot be expressed as a product of singleparticle states; they can give rise to correlations between separated particles unaccountable within the framework of classical physics and are of considerable interest to those concerned with the foundations of quantum mechanics. Two separated identical atoms having, for example, two excited levels with energy interval h12 are brought into an entangled linear superposition of excited states by absorption of two correlated photons. The quantum description of either atom alone shows incoherently populated excited states; the single-atom emission probability shows no quantum interference. However, the joint probability for fluorescent emission manifests, as a function of the time interval between radiative decay of both atoms, quantum beats1 at frequency 12. This quantum interference is insensitive to atomic motion and atomic density, and it can be engendered by photons whose spectral widths are smaller than the beat frequency.
Whether quantum state transitions occur by instantaneous jumps (a la Bohr) or deterministic dynamics (Schrödinger's preference) has been intensely debated. Recent experimental measurements of shelved electrons have reignited the debate. We examine aspects of the time-dependent numerical solutions of the Schrödinger equation in quantum systems with two and three levels perturbed by a sinusoidal field. A geometrical construction involving quantum state phase differences illuminates the role of interstate phase differences in a deterministic, rather than random, process of multiphoton absorption. Alternate halves of the Rabi cycle exhibit phase reversals much like the classical beats of coupled oscillators. For non-zero detuning, population inversion does not occur because the exciting field drifts out of the proper phase before inversion is complete. A close correspondence with classical, coupled oscillator beats offers insights for interpretation of deterministic quantum dynamics and suggests an experimental test for the correctness of this picture depending on the long-time phase stability of exciting fields.
We demonstrate collectively enhanced vacuum-induced quantum beat dynamics from a three-level V-type atomic system. Exciting a dilute atomic gas of magneto-optically trapped ^{85}Rb atoms with a weak drive resonant on one of the transitions, we observe the forward-scattered field after a sudden shut-off of the laser. The subsequent radiative dynamics, measured for various optical depths of the atomic cloud, exhibits superradiant decay rates, as well as collectively enhanced quantum beats. Our work is also the first experimental illustration of quantum beats arising from atoms initially prepared in a single excited level as a result of the vacuum-induced coupling between excited levels.
A theory on interference effects at high photon densities has been developed for two types of a single three-level atom for which transitions occur: (i) from two different upper levels to a common lower one and (ii) from a common upper level to two different lower levels. The excitation spectrum for the interference effects for the two types of atoms results from the symmetric and antisymmetric interference between the two electronic transitions of the system, respectively. The spectral function for the symmetric modes consists of three Lorentzian lines peaked at the frequencies ω = Δ and ω = Δ ± Ω and having spectral widths of the order of γ0 and 3γ0/4, respectively, where Δ is the beat frequency, Ω is the Rabi frequency, and γ0/2 is equal to the natural linewidth for a photon spontaneously emitted from an isolated atom. The antisy mmetric spectrum consists of the peak of ω = Δ, which has a delta-function distribution indicating the stability of the mode in question, and two Lorentzian lines peaked at ω = Δ ± Ω with radiative widths of the order of γ0/2. The excitation spectrum of each type of atom contains also a Lorentzian line describing the very low frequency mode of the system, respectively.