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arXiv:quant-ph/9904076 · Acta Physica Slovaca Reviews and Tutorials

Modifying the lifetime of an unstable system by an intense electromagnetic field

Saverio Pascazio, Paolo Facchi A

Published Apr 21, 1999• 10 citations
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Abstract

We study the temporal behavior of a three-level system (such as an atom or a molecule), initially prepared in an excited state, bathed in a laser field tuned at the transition frequency of the other level. We analyze the dependence of the lifetime of the initial state on the intensity of the laser field. The phenomenon we discuss is related to both electromagnetic induced transparency and quantum Zeno effect.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/9904076

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The author has considered the interference spectra arising from the competition between short- and long-lifetime excitations, which have been induced in the ground state of a three-level atom by a strong and a weak laser field, respectively. The atom is supposed to have a strong and a weak transition leading to an electric-dipole-allowed excited state and to a metastable excited state, respectively. Expressions have been derived for the spectral functions describing the induced spectra in the ground state of the atom in the low- and high-intensity limits of a strong laser field. The competition between the short- and the long-lifetime excitations results in the decrease of the intensity of the short-lifetime excitation near the centre of the peak by an amount equal to 50% of its original value. The computed spectra have been presented graphically and discussed. It is shown that the decrease of the intensity of the short-lifetime excitation may provide a measure of the width of the long-lifetime excitation.

Quantum Optics Journal of the European Optical Society Part B•Jun 1, 1990•8 citations
We study the temporal behavior of a three-level system (such as an atom or a molecule), initially prepared in an excited state, bathed in a laser field tuned at the transition frequency of the other level. We analyze the dependence of the lifetime of the initial state on the intensity of the laser field. The phenomenon we discuss is related to both electromagnetic induced transparency and quantum Zeno effect.
We study the temporal evolution of a three-level system (such as an atom or a molecule), initially prepared in an excited state, bathed in a laser field tuned at the transition frequency of the other level. The features of the spontaneous emission are investigated and the lifetime of the initial state is evaluated: a Fermi ``golden rule'' still applies, but the on-shell matrix elements depend on the intensity of the laser field. In general, the lifetime is a decreasing function of the laser intensity. The phenomenon we discuss can be viewed as an ``inverse'' quantum Zeno effect and can be analyzed in terms of dressed states.
Coherent preparation by laser light of quantum states of atoms and molecules can lead to quantum interference in the amplitudes of optical transitions. In this way the optical properties of a medium can be dramatically modified, leading to electromagnetically induced transparency and related effects, which have placed gas-phase systems at the center of recent advances in the development of media with radically new optical properties. This article reviews these advances and the new possibilities they offer for nonlinear optics and quantum information science. As a basis for the theory of electromagnetically induced transparency the authors consider the atomic dynamics and the optical response of the medium to a continuous-wave laser. They then discuss pulse propagation and the adiabatic evolution of field-coupled states and show how coherently prepared media can be used to improve frequency conversion in nonlinear optical mixing experiments. The extension of these concepts to very weak optical fields in the few-photon limit is then examined. The review concludes with a discussion of future prospects and potential new applications.
We considered the excitation spectra for the excited states of a three-level atom, where the strong and the weak atomic transitions are driven by resonant and nonresonant laser fields, respectively. The spectral functions describing the excitation spectra for the electric dipole allowed excited state and for the metastable state of the atom have been derived when both laser fields are quantized as well as when they are treated as classical entities. In the low-intensity limit of the laser field operating in the strong transition, there are two short-lifetime excitations, the spontaneous one and the induced one, which appear at the same frequency, and a long-lifetime excitation induced by the weak laser field. These excitations compete with each other at resonance as well as at finite detunings of the weak laser field. In the high-intensity limit of the laser field operating in the strong transition, the competition is between the short- and the long-lifetime side bands, which are induced by the strong and the weak laser fields, respectively. The ratio of the maximum intensities of the peaks describing the long- and the short-lifetime excitations exhibits a resonance variation with the detuning of the weak laser field. Comparison between the results obtained when the laser fields are treated as quantized and as classical entities is made.
Numerical calculations are presented for the interference spectra of a laser-excited three-level atom, where the strong and the weak atomic transitions are driven by resonant and nonresonant laser fields, respectively. The spectral functions describing the interference spectra for the electric dipole allowed excited state have been considered in the low- and high-intensity limit of the laser field operating in the strong transition. The interference spectra arise from the competition between short-lifetime spontaneous processes and short- and long-lifetime excitations induced by the strong and the weak laser fields, respectively. Both laser fields have been treated as quantized and as classical entities. The computed spectra have been presented graphically for different values of the Rabi frequencies and detunings of the weak laser field. It is shown that the decrease in the intensity of the short-lifetime excitation may provide a measure of the spectral width of the long-lifetime excitation.
We study laser-induced transparency and dark-line effects in a two-level atomic system where the upper transition level is coupled by a laser field to a dressed system consisting of two lower-energy metastable states mixed by a second laser field (\ensuremath{\Pi} configuration). We show that the emission (absorption) spectrum of the two-level system develops two dynamic dark lines (transparency holes) with tunable central frequencies equal to the Rabi frequency of the second field with positive and negative signs, and widths proportional to that of the first field. The detailed evolution of these effects at low- and high-field intensities and the role of quantum interferences are discussed by presenting a model based on laser-induced continuum structure and adopting a dressed-state picture. We discuss various nonlinear processes in this system and show how the dynamics of emission and absorption spectra are determined by one- and two-photon coupling processes.
The author has considered the interference spectra arising from the competition between short- and long-lifetime excitations, which have been induced in the ground state of a three-level atom by a strong and a weak laser field, respectively. The atom is supposed to have a strong and a weak transition leading to an electric-dipole-allowed excited state and to a metastable excited state, respectively. Expressions have been derived for the spectral functions describing the induced spectra in the ground state of the atom in the low- and high-intensity limits of a strong laser field. The competition between the short- and the long-lifetime excitations results in the decrease of the intensity of the short-lifetime excitation near the centre of the peak by an amount equal to 50% of its original value. The computed spectra have been presented graphically and discussed. It is shown that the decrease of the intensity of the short-lifetime excitation may provide a measure of the width of the long-lifetime excitation.