Abstract

We consider a single two-level atom in a driven optical cavity, and calculate the second-order intensity correlation function g⁽²⁾(τ) and the waiting-time distribution W(t). Previous results¹ have dealt primarily with the weak driving field limit, and the presence of nondassical effects. These could be interpreted in several ways, using quantum interference between detection probability amplitudes, or as due to intracavity squeezing. In this paper we extend these results outside the weak-field limit, to determine the robustness of these nondassical effects, and to compare with recent experimental results of Mielke et al.² We include transit-time broadening and decoherence explicitly using quantum trajectory methods. Two methods are used, first a simple resetting of the atom to the ground state every transit time, simulating the leaving of one atom and arrival of another. Secondly we use a Poisson distribution of atom arrival times, simulating an atomic beam. In the latter case we consider traditional oven beams and atoms dropped from a magneto-optical trap. We make comparisons between the trajectory method and traditional density matrix methods. Further, we examine the relationship between the waiting-time distribution and g⁽²⁾(τ), which are the same for small delay times, in the context of recent experiments.

© 1998 Optical Society of America