We study a single mode of the radiation field subjected to ideal k-photon parametric amplification (photons created or destroyed k at a time). In an attempt to generalize ordinary squeezing (k = 2), Fisher et al.1 considered the case k > 2. They concluded that there is something seriously wrong with the evolution operator after discovering that for k > 2 its matrix elements in the number-state basis have divergent Taylor series expansions in time. We show that this divergence is due to a branch cut along the negative time axis, and we obtain useful information by treating these Taylor series as asymptotic expansions. We investigate the states generated by a k-photon paramp by calculating the evolution of the quantum O-function. We watch the vacuum evolve into a state whose O-function has k-fold symmetry. The classical behavior which corresponds to a k-photon parametric interaction is described by phase-space trajectories near an unstable fixed point. We compare the classical and quantum behavior and find that the quantum corrections smear out classical phase-space features which are smaller than allowed by the uncertainty principle. Finally, we consider the evolution of an initial coherent state which has large amplitude, and we find that a three-photon paramp generates squeezing at a rate proportional to the amplitude of the initial coherent state.
We study a single mode of the radiation field subjected to ideal k-photon parametric amplification (photons created or destroyed k at a time). In an attempt to generalize ordinary squeezing (k = 2), Fisher et al.1 considered the case k > 2. They concluded that there is something seriously wrong with the evolution operator after discovering that for k > 2 its matrix elements in the number-state basis have divergent Taylor series expansions in time. We show that this divergence is due to a branch cut along the negative time axis, and we obtain useful information by treating these Taylor series as asymptotic expansions. We investigate the states generated by a k-photon paramp by calculating the evolution of the quantum O-function. We watch the vacuum evolve into a state whose O-function has k-fold symmetry. The classical behavior which corresponds to a k-photon parametric interaction is described by phase-space trajectories near an unstable fixed point. We compare the classical and quantum behavior and find that the quantum corrections smear out classical phase-space features which are smaller than allowed by the uncertainty principle. Finally, we consider the evolution of an initial coherent state which has large amplitude, and we find that a three-photon paramp generates squeezing at a rate proportional to the amplitude of the initial coherent state.
In the present paper, we consider the interaction of a single mode radiation initially in a coherent state with an assembly of two two-level atoms in some different states using the Hamiltonian, H = ω(a+a + Sz)+g(a S+ + a+ S-) in the natural units, where a+ and a are the creation and annihilation operators for radiation, Sz, S± are the collective Dicke operators, g is the coupling constant, ω is the energy of the photons and energy difference between the two atomic levels. We solve it exactly. We study ordinary squeezing and amplitude-squared squeezing of radiation for the general operators, [Formula: see text] and Yθ=1/2(a2e-iθ+a+2eiθ), when atoms are fully excited, super-radiant or in the ground state. We get a large ordinary squeezing (nearly 88% squeezing) for the super-radiant atomic state, at a time, which is 0.451 of the first revival time, and this should be easily observable. We also get a large amplitude-squared squeezing (nearly 20%) at the time, which is about 0.033 of the first revival time. Variation of variances near their minima with coupling time gt, square root of mean photon number |α| and phase are also discussed.
We use the recently-established asymptotic solution (AS) for large fields to study squeezing in the Jaynes-Cummings model. Arbitrary initial atomic states (including atomic coherence) are considered. We find that most features of squeezing can be understood from the properties of the asymptotic field states, and from the observation, which we establish numerically, that for large fields the interference between the two branches of the wavefunction does not contribute significantly to the squeezing (not even near the revival times, when the two field states being superposed have very nearly the same phase). We obtain a limit on the time over which the field may show any squeezing and find that it scales as the 3/4 power of the number of photons. We also obtain a bound on the maximum achievable squeezing for a given number of photons, which is an improvement over earlier estimates. Finally, we discuss some of the shortcomings of the AS, and in particular the existence of a small ghost peak in the field Q function for initial conditions where the AS predicts a single peak, which is enough to destroy the squeezing for certain times.
Following the development of the quantum theory of radiation and with the advent of the laser, the states of the field that most nearly describe a classical electromagnetic field were widely studied. In order to realize such ‘classical’ states, we will consider the field generated by a classical monochromatic current, and find that the quantum state thus generated has many interesting properties and deserves to be called a coherent state . An important consequence of the quantization of the radiation field is the associated uncertainty relation for the conjugate field variables. It therefore appears reasonable to propose that the wave function which corresponds most closely to the classical field must have minimum uncertainty for all times subject to the appropriate simple harmonic potential. In this chapter we show that a displaced simple harmonic oscillator ground state wave function satisfies this property and the wave packet oscillates sinusoidally in the oscillator potential without changing shape as shown in Fig. 2.1. This coherent wave packet always has minimum uncertainty, and resembles the classical field as nearly as quantum mechanics permits. The corresponding state vector is the coherent state |α〉, which is the eigenstate of the positive frequency part of the electric field operator, or, equivalently, the eigenstate of the destruction operator of the field. Classically an electromagnetic field consists of waves with welldefined amplitude and phase. Such is not the case when we treat the field quantum mechanically.
We investigate the time evolution of squeezing in the signal mode of the undamped parametric amplifier. Both the degenerate and nondegenerate cases are considered. These are the simplest models that give limits to squeezing caused by both the intrinsic pump noise and pump depletion. Conflicting analytic expressions have been reported. We resolve this by the use of exact numerical methods, employing both number state and stochastic techniques. Our central result is that in both cases we find that the minimum in the squeezed quadrature variance scales as N${\mathrm{\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1/2}$, where N\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{} is the initial coherent pump photon number. This bound on the amount of squeezing obtainable, coupled with the loss in energy due to the conversion efficiency, serves to limit the phase information in the squeezed channel to no more than that of the coherent pump. We believe this to be a fundamental limit for using the squeezed radiation generated in coherently driven parametric amplifiers.
Optical quantum computing, quantum information and quantum communication protocols rely on the generation of qubits encoded in optical systems, many of which can be generate via the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion. In this thesis, we investigate down-converted states, in the context of quantum computing and quantum information. In the high gain regime, a type I down-converted state can be described as a single-mode squeezed vacuum state. We present an analysis of photon-subtracted squeezed vacuum states as a resource for teleportation of coherent state qubits and propose proof-of-principle experiments for the demonstration of coherent-state teleportation and entanglement swapping. In the low gain regime, the output state of a type II parametric down-converter can be approximated as containing pairs of single photons, which can be used to herald the presence of one- or two- photon Fock states in one mode, conditional on the detection of the same number of photons in the other mode. We explore the effects of spectral filtering and inefficient detection, of the heralding mode, on the count rate, g(2) and purity of the heralded state, as well as the fidelity between the resulting state and an ideal Fock state. We also develop a technique for controlling the joint spectral profile of the down-converted photons. By exploiting the dependence of the effective nonlinearity of a periodically poled crystal on its poling order, we tailor the nonlinearity profile and therefore the phase matching function of the down-converted photons. Finally, we consider the validity of the Taylor series expansion of the unitary operator which governs the evolution of the fields within the crystal, in comparison to the strictly correct time-ordered Dyson series expansion.