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Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General

Quantisation of limit cycles in a P representation of a dissipative driven anharmonic oscillator

J.S. Satchell, Sarben Sarkar

Published Oct 1, 1986• 12 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The non-linear polarisability model of dispersive optical bistability with periodic driving field is shown to have non-trivial limit cycle solutions in phase space. The model is quantised rigorously in the positive P representation. For a particular (but typical) limit cycle, the associated steady state probability distribution is shown to be compatible with a bivariate Gaussian. The inverse widths of the Gaussian are calculated as functions of position in both phase space and time.

DOI
10.1088/0305-4470/19/14/013

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The non-linear polarisability model of dispersive optical bistability with periodic driving field is shown to have non-trivial limit cycle solutions in phase space. The model is quantised rigorously in the positive P representation. For a particular (but typical) limit cycle, the associated steady state probability distribution is shown to be compatible with a bivariate Gaussian. The inverse widths of the Gaussian are calculated as functions of position in both phase space and time.
We consider the quantum model of a driven anharmonic oscillator, in the presence of dissipation, and present an exact analytic solution for the corresponding Wigner function in the steady-state regime. This provides explicit phase-space images of the resulting state of the cavity mode, and allows us to understand how the quantum interference is built up into it. The photon number probability distribution is calculated and analysed as well. We monitor the transition from the semiclassical to extreme quantum regime of operation, and identify qualitative changes, where the conventional characteristics of the model, such as bistability or turning points, become meaningless.
The topic of this thesis is a theoretical study of nonequilibrium transitions and quantum statistical properties of nonlinear quantum optical systems driven by an external radiation source. In certain limiting cases, a comparison is made between these transitions and the phase transitions found in equilibrium physical systems. In chapters one and two, the mathematical tools are introduced. In operator terms, the time development is described by a Markovian master equation in the interaction picture. This is equivalent to a corresponding time development equation or Fokker-Planck equation in a vector space of c-numbers. In order to deal with the type of Fokker-Planck equation that results, we introduce a quantum classical correspondence resulting in a distribution function over a complex phase-space, which is a generalisation of the Glauber-Sudarshan P-function. In chapter three this is applied to a model of a coherently driven mode with nonlinear dispersion and absorption. We find in the limit of zero temperature, that the spectrum is symmetric relative to the input frequency, and an exact solution is obtained for the distribution function. For a detuned driving field and nonlinear dispersion, optical bistability can occur. In chapter four a model of sub/second harmonic generation is introduced. This has several non-equilibrium transitions, including dispersive optical bistability, and bistable behaviour with coherent phase-locked input to both modes. Exact solutions occur in the limit of zero temperature and adiabatic elimination of one mode. In both chapters three and four, steady-state photon anti-bunching occurs with an absorptive nonlinearity. In chapter five we include interactions between the radiation mode and a fluorescent atomic system. In this case different behaviour occurs depending on the relative decay rates of the individual atoms and of the radiation mode. In the case of a high-Q interferometer, the atomic variables can be adiabatically eliminated. Both dispersive and absorptive bistability can occur. We show by analytic and numerical calculations (in the case of inhomogeneous broadening) that dispersive operation has advantages in requiring a lower atomic density and input field to observe bistability. When the input field has Gaussian (rather than coherent) photon statistics, there is no bistability, but enhanced photon bunching occurs. Finally, there is a different type of behaviour when the field mode decays rapidly and can be adiabatically eliminated. Within the cooperation lifetime the system can be described by a J²-invariant Hamiltonian, giving the special case of only collective damping. The result is a new type of critical point transition in the thermodynamic limit, with the appearance of a family of solutions like Lotka-Volterra cycles for a coherent driving field above threshold.
A quantum treatment of a coherently driven dispersive cavity is given based on a cubic nonlinearity in the polarisability of the internal medium. This system displays bistability and hysteresis in the semiclassical solutions. Quantum fluctuations are included via a Fokker-Planck equation in a generalised P representation. The transmitted light shows a transition from a single-peaked spectrum to a double-peaked spectrum above the threshold of the lower branch. Fluctuations in the field are reduced on the upper branch and both photon bunching and photon antibunching are predicted, for different operating points. An exact solution obtained for the steady-state generalised P function shows decidedly non-equilibrium behaviour, e.g. the lack of a Maxwell construction.
We study a dynamical phase transition in optical bistable systems subject to a time-periodic driving field. The phase transition occurs in the structure of a limit cycle as a function of the frequency of the driving field. In the thermodynamic limit, a single limit cycle is divided into two separated limit cycles at the transition point. In finite-size systems, however, there is always a single limit cycle due to the quantum tunneling effect. We use a Floquet dissipative map, which is a time-evolution operator over one period in dynamics given by a quantum master equation, and discuss the decay rate of relaxation dynamics into the limit cycle based on the dominant eigenvalue of the map. We found that the decay rate exhibits qualitatively different system-size dependence before and after the phase transition and it shows a finite-size scaling of spinodal phenomena around the transition point. The present paper provides a systematic way of studying a dynamical phase transition observed in time-periodically driven open systems in terms of the Floquet dissipative map.
The dynamical solution of the driven classical anharmonic (AH) oscillator is obtained through a region of optical bistability. The dynamical solution is observed to switch from the lowest to highest steady-state (SS) root near a SS turning point with evidence of critical slowing down. The solution of a widely used multiple-photon version of the AH model is also obtained and is found to give qualitatively similar behavior. The average number of photons observed dramatically increases in the bistable region and exhibits damped oscillations.