Abstract

The Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) for the interaction between a two-level atom and a single-mode field holds a central place in theoretical quantum optics. The model is sufficiently simple that it can be solved exactly, and its solution provides important insight into the dynamical behavior resulting from the quantized interaction between light and matter. The JCM has been extended in many directions over the past several years. The extension we are interested in here in this paper is the inclusion of a coherent driving field. In the past, the use (if any) of an external coherent driving field has been as a probe which is weak enough so as not to disturb the main atom/field interaction. In this paper we consider a single atom strongly coupled to a single quantized field mode of an electromagnetic cavity driven by an external coherent field. By strongly coupled, we mean that the atom/field coupling constant is much greater than the dissipative rates in the problem. The amplitude of the external field which drives the cavity is treated classically. This extended JCM has been used, with dissipation, to exhibit a symmetry-breaking transition, leading to a bimodality in phase, as the strength of the driving field is increased,^[1], and to discover conditions under which the atomic resonance fluorescence could be suppressed.^[2] A complete analysis of the problem would include non-resonant effects where the atomic resonance frequency, the cavity frequency, and the external driving field frequency are all arbitrary. However, as a first attempt to explore the non-perturbative strongly-coupled regime, we have chosen to investigate the situation of complete on-resonance, all three of the above frequencies are taken to be equal. Even with this restriction, we have found this problem to be very rich.

© 1992 IQEC