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arXiv:quant-ph/0501181 · Europhysics Letters (EPL)

The non-dissipative damping of the Rabi oscillations as a “which-path” information

Michele Tumminello, Alessandro Vaglica, G. Vetri

Published Mar 1, 2004• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Rabi oscillations may be viewed as an interference phenomenon due to a coherent superposition of different quantum paths, as in Young's two-slit experiment. The inclusion of the atomic external variables causes a non-dissipative damping of the Rabi oscillations. More generally, the atomic translational dynamics induces damping in the correlation functions which describe non-classical behaviors of the field and internal atomic variables, leading to the separability of these two subsystems. We discuss on the possibility of interpreting this intrinsic decoherence as a “which-way” information effect and we apply to this case a quantitative analysis of the complementarity relation as introduced by Englert ( Phys. Rev. Lett. 77 (1996) 2154).

DOI
10.1209/epl/i2003-10194-y

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Rabi oscillations may be viewed as an interference phenomenon due to a coherent superposition of different quantum paths, as in Young's two-slit experiment. The inclusion of the atomic external variables causes a non-dissipative damping of the Rabi oscillations. More generally, the atomic translational dynamics induces damping in the correlation functions which describe non-classical behaviors of the field and internal atomic variables, leading to the separability of these two subsystems. We discuss on the possibility of interpreting this intrinsic decoherence as a “which-way” information effect and we apply to this case a quantitative analysis of the complementarity relation as introduced by Englert ( Phys. Rev. Lett. 77 (1996) 2154).
We have observed Rabi-like oscillations in a current-biased dc superconducting quantum interference device presenting enhanced coherence times compared to our previous realization [J. Claudon et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 187003 (2004)]. This Josephson device behaves as an anharmonic oscillator which can be driven into a coherent superposition of quantum states by resonant microwave flux pulses. Increasing the microwave amplitude, we study the evolution of the Rabi frequency from the two-level regime to the regime of multilevel dynamics. When up to three levels are involved, the Rabi frequency is a clear signature of a quantum behavior. At higher excitation amplitude, classical and quantum predictions for the Rabi frequency converge. This result is discussed in the light of a calculation of the Wigner function. In particular, our analysis shows that pronounced quantum interferences always appear in the course of the Rabi-like oscillations.
A systematic investigation is performed on the damping of Rabi oscillations induced by an external electromagnetic field interacting with a two-level semiconductor system. We have considered a coherently driven two-level system coupled to a dephasing reservoir and shown that, to explain the dependence of the dephasing rate on the driving intensity, it is essential to consider the non-Markovian character of the reservoir. Moreover, we have demonstrated that intensity-dependent damping may be induced by various dephasing mechanisms due to stationary as well as non-stationary effects caused by coupling with the environment. Finally, present results are able to explain a variety of experimental measurements available in the literature.
We present a simple theoretical description of a recent QED experiment where damping of Rabi oscillations cannot be attributed to environment-induced decoherence (EID). We generalize a previous formalism to describe also nonexponential decay. The possibility of spontaneous intrinsic decoherence (SID), i.e., not due to interaction with environment or fluctuation of some internal parameter but of purely quantum mechanical origin, is discussed. Moreover an experimental cavity QED test of SID is suggested. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Young's double slit experiment has often been used to illustrate the concept of complementarity in quantum mechanics. If information can in principle be obtained about the path of the photon, then the visibility of the interference fringes is reduced or even destroyed. This Gedanken experiment discussed by Bohr and Einstein can be realized when the slit is replaced by individual atoms sensitive to the transferred recoil momentum of a photon which "passes through the slit". Early pioneering experiments were done with trapped ions and atom pairs created via photo-dissociation. Recently, it became possible to perform interference experiments with single neutral atoms cooled to the absolute ground state of a harmonic oscillator potential. The slits are now single atoms representing a two-level system, and the excitation in the harmonic oscillator potential is the which-way marker. In this note, we analyze and generalize two recent experiments performed with single atoms and emphasize the different ways they record which-way information.
Abstract The interplay of coherence and decoherence is played out in a three-level quantum system, in which the third level is incoherently coupled to the second one which itself is in coherent interaction with the first level. The study is based on a stochastic scenario in which the coherent, unitary evolution of the system is randomly interrupted by a Poisson-driven pulse sequence. In the absence of an external pulse, the system undergoes coherent, unitary evolution restricted to the subspace spanned by the first level (level 1) and the second level (level 2). The application of a pulse induces transitions between the second and the third level (level 3), thereby introducing non-unitary effects that perturb the otherwise isolated two-level dynamics. The pulses are assumed to have infinitesimal duration, with strengths modeled as random variables that are uncorrelated across different pulses. A representative model for the stochastically-averaged transition (super)operator mimicking the dynamics induced by the application of pulses allows for an analytical derivation of the matrix elements of the averaged density operator, especially, the element pertaining to the first level. When the system is initially in level 1, we obtain in particular the temporal behavior of the stay-put probability, that is, the probability P 1 ( t ) that the system is still in level 1 at time t. As a function of time, the quantity P 1 ( t ) exhibits a coherence-to-decoherence crossover behavior. At short times t ≪ 1 / λ , where λ is the average frequency at which pulses are applied to the system, coherent dynamics dominate. Consequently, P 1 ( t ) displays pronounced Rabi-like oscillations. At long times t ≫ 1 / λ , decoherence effects prevail, leading to an exponential decay of the form P 1 ( t ) − 1 / 3 ∼ exp ⁡ ( − λ t ) . The results are relevant in the context of well-established Rabi oscillations, applicable to molecular beams and magnetic resonance experiments, as well as in more contemporary frameworks including quantum information processing, quantum resetting protocols, and the theory of quantum trajectories.