Abstract: We analyze the above-threshold behavior of a mirrorless parametric oscillator based on resonantly enhanced four wave mixing in a coherently driven dense atomic vapor. It is shown that, in the ideal limit, an arbitrary small flux of pump photons is sufficient to reach the oscillator threshold. We demonstrate that due to the large group velocity delays associated with coherent media, an extremely narrow oscillator linewidth is possible, making a narrow-band source of non-classical radiation feasible.
Abstract: Matsubara Green's functions for interacting bosons are expressed as classical statistical averages corresponding to a linear imaginary-time stochastic differential equation. This makes direct numerical simulations applicable to the study of equilibrium quantum properties of bosons in the non-perturbative regime. To verify our results we discuss an oscillator with quartic anharmonicity as a prototype model for an interacting Bose gas. An analytic expression for the characteristic function in a thermal state is derived and a Higgs-type phase transition discussed, which occurs when the oscillator frequency becomes negative.
Abstract: We describe quantum-field-theoretical (QFT) techniques for mapping quantum problems onto c-number stochastic problems. This approach yields results which are identical to phase-space techniques [C.W. Gardiner, Quantum Noise (1991)] when the latter result in a Fokker-Planck equation for a corresponding pseudo-probability distribution. If phase-space techniques do not result in a Fokker-Planck equation and hence fail to produce a stochastic representation, the QFT techniques nevertheless yield stochastic di erence equations in discretised time.
Abstract: We investigate the quantum properties of fields generated by resonantly enhanced wave mixing based on atomic coherence in Raman systems. We show that such a process can be used for generation of pairs of Stokes and anti-Stokes fields with nearly perfect quantum correlations, yielding almost complete (i.e. 100%) squeezing without the use of a cavity. We discuss the extension of the wave mixing interactions into the domain of a few interacting light quanta.
Abstract: We analyze systematic (classical) and fundamental (quantum) limitations of the sensitivity of optical magnetometers resulting from ac-Stark shifts. We show that incontrast to absorption-based techniques, the signal reduction associated with classical broadening can be compensated in magnetometers based on phase measurements using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). However due to ac-Stark associated quantum noise the signal-to-noise ratio of EIT-based magnetometers attains a maximum value at a certain laser intensity. This value is independent on the quantum statistics of the light and defines a standard quantum limit of sensitivity. We demonstrate that an EIT-based optical magnetometer in Faraday configuration is the best candidate to achieve the highest sensitivity of magnetic field detection and give a detailed analysis of such a device.
Abstract: The recently proposed idea to generate entanglement between photon states via exchange interactions in an ensemble of atoms (J. D. Franson and T. B. Pitman, Phys. Rev. A 60 , 917 (1999) and J. D. Franson et al., (quant- ph/9912121)) is discussed using an S -matix approach. It is shown that if the nonlinear response of the atoms is negligible and no additional atom-atom interactions are present, exchange interactions cannot produce entanglement between photons states in a process that returns the atoms to their initial state. Entanglement generation requires the presence of a nonlinear atomic response or atom-atom interactions.
Abstract: The phase transition to mirrorless oscillation in resonantly enhanced four-wave mixing in double-A systems are studied analytically for the ideal case of infinite lifetimes of ground-state coherences. The stationary susceptibilities are obtained in all orders of the generated fields and analytic solutions of the coupled nonlinear differential equations for the field amplitudes are derived and discussed.
Abstract: We predict the possibility of sharp, high-contrast resonances in the optical response of a broad class of systems, wherein interference effects are generated by coherent perturbation or interaction of dark states. The properties of these resonances can be manipulated to design a desired atomic response.
Abstract: Local field effects on the rate of spontaneous emission and Lamb shift in a dense gas of atoms are discussed taking into account correlations of atomic center-of-mass coordinates. For this the exact retarded propagator in the medium is calculated in independent scattering approximation and employing a virtual-cavity model. The resulting changes of the atomic polarizability lead to modi cations of the medium response which can be of the same order of magnitude but of opposite sign than those due to local field corrections of the dielectric function derived by Morice, Castin, and Dalibard [Phys.Rev.A 51, 3896 (1995)].
Abstract: We show that it is possible to "store" quantum states of single-photon fields by mapping them onto collective meta-stable states of an optically dense, coherently driven medium inside an optical resonator. An adiabatic technique is suggested which allows to transfer non-classical correlations from traveling-wave single-photon wave-packets into atomic states and vise versa with nearly 100% efficiency. In contrast to previous approaches involving single atoms, the present technique does not require the strong coupling regime corresponding to high-Q micro-cavities. Instead, intracavity Electromagnetically Induced Transparency is used to achieve a strong coupling between the cavity mode and the atoms.
Threshold and linewidth of a mirrorless parametric oscillator
(2000)
