Quantum Fluctuations in Linear Systems

André F. Verbeure

Jean-Michel Courty, Serge Reynaud

Scattering of quantum fluctuations by a linear system is entirely characterized by impedance functions that also allow the determination of the system fluctuations. We present a generalization of this linear input-output theory to the case of a nonlinear scattering system. We define response functions that are similar to the susceptibility functions of linear response theory, but behave as noncommuting quantities. These functions contain a ``dynamical'' part determined by the relaxation of the system and a ``structural'' one related to the commutators between the system observables. The generalized linear input-output theory provides us with a complete description of the system fluctuations as well as of the output reservoir fields. The consistency of the results is ensured by general relations existing between the response functions and the correlation functions.

R. Tanaś

Chao Zhao, TAN WEI-HAN, 上海大学物理系，上海 200444

A systematic theory of quantum fluctuation in the time-dependent linearly driven parametric amplification is developed. At first, a time-dependent linearly driven Fokker-Planck equation for the degenerate optical parametric amplification system is deduced when the pump depletion is considered, and then the quantum fluctuation below or near the threshold is evaluated, which is in agreement with that obtained by the linear theory or perturbation expansion near the threshold. Above the threshold, the short-time behavior of our solution is close to the linearization approximation; however, with the increase of interaction time τ, the long-time behavior of our solution shows that the squeezing is quite different from the linear theory.

Z. Ficek, R. Tanaś

Christopher J. Mertens, T. A. B. Kennedy, S. Swain

Quantum properties of intracavity nonlinear optical processes such as parametric oscillation and second harmonic generation are limited to a linearized analytical treatment except for certain special cases. Perfect squeezing in one quadrature and the divergence in fluctuations of the conjugate quadrature predicted at threshold in parametric oscillation are a consequence of the approximate linearized analysis. We investigate nonlinear quantum fluctuation corrections by using nonequilibrium Green’s function methods1,2 in concert with quantum master equations, to assess when these system-size effects may be observable in the laboratory.