Controlling atom-field dynamics

Niranjan Shivaram, Henry R. Timmers, Xiao‐Min Tong +1 more

M. A. Bouchène, Mahmoud Abdel‐Aty

We propose a method to control the atomic dynamics in the presence of electromagnetic fields. Instead of measuring the population dynamics, we focus on the possibility of controlling the Pancharatnam phase. For a two-level system we find that this phase can be optically induced and controlled by the phase shift. More importantly, the nonlinear interaction between the atom and the field leads to an enhanced sensitivity for the control of the atomic phase evolution and system dynamics.

André Xuereb

Zhi‐Rong Zhong

We study the dynamics of a coupled cavity system composed of three cavities, and propose a scheme for the coherent manipulation of two collective atomic modes by a control atom. In the scheme, the control atom and two atomic ensembles interact with the local cavity mode, while the control atom is externally driven by a laser field. We show that under certain conditions, the dynamics of the whole system are reduced to an effective coherent coupling between the control atom and two collective atomic modes, while the cavity fields are only virtually excited. We also study the dynamics of the entanglement generation of the two distant collective atomic modes. The scheme provides a potential application for quantum-state engineering and quantum control.

Stephen Colby Rand

Wenge Yang, Amitabh Joshi, Min Xiao

Dynamic instability in the transmission field of an optical ring cavity containing three-level $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type rubidium atoms is studied in detail both experimentally and theoretically. The onset and periodicity of such dynamic oscillations in the cavity field can be controlled by the experimental parameters, such as intensity and frequency detuning of the coupling field and∕or cavity field. Such nonlinear dynamic behavior is caused by competition between optical saturation of the cavity field and optical population pumping by the coupling field in the three-level atomic system.