Abstract

We study quantum mechanical behavior of a Morse oscillator coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators and driven by an infrared laser. The purpose is to compare quantum behavior of such a system with the classical and semiclassical solutions of a driven damped Morse oscillator. The general picture coming out of classical and semiclassical studies is that the total energy of the Morse oscillator in steady states or steady oscillations show jump and hysteretic behavior, as expected in a cusp catastrophe, when laser intensity or frequency is varied. Along with the bistable behavior we have also found period-doubling bifurcations leading to chaos on one or both branches. In the quantum treatment a generalized master equation is derived from the Liouville equation, in which the Hamiltonian of the Morse oscillator is expressed in terms of generators of an SU(2) algebra. This algebra and the Markoffian approximation allows us to derive the equation of motion of the reduced density matrix, which is solved numerically. Bistable behavior does not exist in this quantum treatment, but solutions do show jump behavior and bifurcation phenomenon. Experimental implications of these studies are also discussed.

© 1986 Optical Society of America