Abstract

A general theory of the micromaser^[1] based on treating the input atomic beam as a two component quantum field, so that the two-level atoms in the beam are then “quanta” of this field, is described. This approach makes it possible to formulate a general description of the dynamics of the cavity field in which the input atomic beam acts as a source of quantum noise. The statistical properties of the incident atomic beam are then specified via the quantum state of the incident atomic beam. The principal result is a general formalism, valid for arbitrary states of the input atomic beam, which yields a master equation for the density operator of the cavity field, as well as a general description of the properties of the atomic beam as it exits from the cavity in terms of atomic field correlation functions.

© 1992 IQEC