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Physical Review A

Schrödinger-cat states in the resonant Jaynes-Cummings model: Collapse and revival of oscillations of the photon-number distribution

Vladimír Bužek, H. M. Moya-Cessa, P. L. Knight, Simon J. D. Phoenix

Published Jun 1, 1992• 275 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The Jaynes-Cummings model of optical resonance describes the simplest fully quantized interaction between two quantum systems of different nature: a two-level atom (fermionic system) and a quantized field mode (bosonic system). This interaction leads to extreme quantum entanglement of the atom and field. However, the model also predicts that, at precisely half of the revival time, the atom and field become asymptotically disentangled. This disentanglement becomes more exact as the coherent-state amplitude increases. In this paper we investigate the nature of the pure-field-state superposition generated at such times. We show that this superposition is of distinguishable states of the field with the same amplitude but opposite phase. Interference between these components leads to nonclassical oscillations in photon-number distributions and squeezing in quadratures of the field. The Schr\"odinger-cat states of the field are highly transient, and depend very sensitively on the interaction time, the initial intensity of the field, and the atom-field detuning.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.45.8190

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The Jaynes-Cummings model of optical resonance describes the simplest fully quantized interaction between two quantum systems of different nature: a two-level atom (fermionic system) and a quantized field mode (bosonic system). This interaction leads to extreme quantum entanglement of the atom and field. However, the model also predicts that, at precisely half of the revival time, the atom and field become asymptotically disentangled. This disentanglement becomes more exact as the coherent-state amplitude increases. In this paper we investigate the nature of the pure-field-state superposition generated at such times. We show that this superposition is of distinguishable states of the field with the same amplitude but opposite phase. Interference between these components leads to nonclassical oscillations in photon-number distributions and squeezing in quadratures of the field. The Schr"odinger-cat states of the field are highly transient, and depend very sensitively on the interaction time, the initial intensity of the field, and the atom-field detuning.
We show that the resonant interaction between a two-level atom and a quantized field mode via two-photon transitions leads to extreme quantum entanglement between the atom and quantum field. Nevertheless during the time evolution there are moments at which the atom-field system becomes asymptotically disentangled. We investigate statistical properties of the pure-field states generated at such times. We show that at the quarter of the revival time the field is produced in the pure superposition state (Schrödinger cat state) composed of two coherent states with the same amplitude but which are out of phase by 90° (we obtain approximate analytical solution for this superposition state). We show that the interference between component states leads to non-classical oscillations in the photon number distribution. At the revival time the field is again in the pure state (we present an approximate analytical solution for the corresponding state vector). This pure state is not a superposition state. Nevertheless it exhibits a certain degree of sub-Poissonian photon statistics. We briefly discuss the influence of the Stark shift on the production of superposition states.
An asymptotic result is derived for the Jaynes-Cummings model of a two-level atom interacting with a quantized single-mode field, which is valid when the field is initially in a coherent state with a large average photon number. It is shown that for certain initial atomic states the joint atom-field wave function factors into an atomic and a field part throughout the interaction, so that each system remains separately in a pure state. The atomic part of the wave function displays a crossing of trajectories in the atom Hilbert space that leads to a unique state for the atom, independent of its initial state, at a specific time t0{\mathit{t}}_{0}t0​ (equal to half the revival time). The field part of the wave function resembles a crescent squeezed state. The well-known collapses and revivals are investigated from this perspective. The collapse appears to be associated with a ``measurement'' of the initial state of the atom with the field as the measuring apparatus. The measurement is not complete for finite average photon number: the system is instead left in a coherent superposition of macroscopically distinct states. At the half-revival time t0{\mathit{t}}_{0}t0​ this superposition of states is entirely in the field part of the state vector, so that the (pure) state of the field at that time is of the form sometimes referred to as a ``Schr\"odinger cat.'' The revivals of the population inversion are seen to be entirely due to the fact that the linear superposition of the two macroscopically distinct field states is coherent (i.e., a pure state), as opposed to an incoherent mixture.
The Jaynes-Cummings model of a single two-level atom interacting with a quantized single-mode coherent field generates at the half-revival time a dynamically disentangled atom-field state. At such times, the field is in asymptotically pure Schrödinger cat state, a macroscopic superposition of distinct field eigenmodes. In this paper we address the problem of field purity when a second atom is allowed to interact with the cavity mode and becomes entangled with the first atom via their mutual cavity field with which they interact. We employ the collective Dicke states to describe the cooperative effects on the entanglement and show that the second atom spoils the purity of the field state except for special cases of the atom-field coupling or of initial conditions.
It is shown that the phenomenon of fractional revivals, which was observed in recent laser experiments on atomic wave packets, determines the long-time behavior of the Jaynes-Cummings model for a two-level atom interacting with a quantized cavity field. This provides an alternative mechanism for the generation of coherent superpositions of macroscopically distinguishable states of the field (so-called ``optical Schr\"odinger cats'') via resonant processes. The emergence of these states is associated with the appearance of atomic inversion revivals following each other 2, 3, 4, . . . times faster than the usual ones.
We study the dynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings Model for an array of NqN_qNq​ two level systems (or qubits) interacting with a quantized single mode electromagnetic cavity (or quantum bus). For an initial cavity coherent state ∣α>| α>∣α> and the qubit system in a specified `basin of attraction' in its Hilbert space, we demonstrate the oscillation of a superposition of two macroscopic quantum states between the qubit system and the field mode. From the perspective of either the qubit or the field system, there is collapse and revival of a `Schrödinger Cat' state.
. The Jaynes-Cummings Model (JCM), a soluble fully quantum mechanical model of an atom in a field, was first used (in 1963) to examine the classical aspects of spontaneous emission and to reveal the existence of Rabi oscillations in atomic excitation probability for fields with sharply defined energy (or photon number). For fields having a statistical distribution of photon numbers the oscillations collapse to an expected steady value. In 1980 it was discovered that with appropriate initial conditions (e.g. a near-classical field), the Rabi oscillations would eventually revive – only to collapse and revive repeatedly in a complicated pattern. The existence of these revivals, present in the analytic solutions of the JCM, provided direct evidence for discreteness of field excitation (photons) and hence for the truly quantum nature of radiation. Subsequent study revealed further nonclassical properties of the JCM field, such as a tendency of the photons to antibunch. Within the last two years it has been found that during the quiescent intervals of collapsed Rabi oscillations the atom and field exist in a macroscopic superposition state (a Schrödinger cat). This discovery offers the opportunity to use the JCM to elucidate the basic properties of quantum correlation (entanglement) and to explore still further the relationship between classical and quantum physics.