Abstract

We use the quantum trajectory (stochastic wave function) approach to simulate the dynamics of a cavity QED system. The system consists of one atom interacting on resonance with one mode of a coherently driven optical cavity. We simulate a variety of different measurements on this system. The simulation of direct photoelectric detection produces trajectories that illustrate the collapse of the wave function in delayed photon coincidence measurements. It also allows us to calculate waiting-time distributions, pho­toelectron counting distributions, and the mean transmitted intensity as a function of the excitation frequency and field strength. A simulation with frequency filtering of the stochastic wave fuction gives results for optical spectra. From a simulation of homodyne detection we obtain trajectories showing the fluctuations in the quadrature phase amplitudes of the intracavity field and the atomic dipole. These simulations are used to calculate spectra of squeezing. We show that when the cavity is excited near one of the "vacuum" Rabi resonances, the composite atom-cavity system behaves like a two-state system. Under these conditions the optical spectrum shows Mollow sidebands caused by a dynamic Stark shift of the Jaynes-Cummings eigenstates. Thus, in this measurement we are observing the "dressing" of the (one-quantum) dressed states.

© 1992 Optical Society of America