A Cavity QED Test of Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

AbstractWe establish a connection between a harmonic oscillator and a strongly driven two-level atom coupled to a quantized cavity mode. Employing a weak probe which connects the ground state to an auxiliary level, the Autler-Townes spectrum is calculated. There are two distinct regions of the atomic dynamics depending on the relative magnitude of the Rabi frequencies of the cavity field,Ωc, and the driving field, Ω. For Ωc Ω and moderate cavity coupling strengths, the spectral peaks are composed of multiplets. Aquan tized dressed-atom approach shows that the oscillations in the spectral components arise from the oscillations of the population distribution in the dressed states. This distribution is an analog of the harmonic oscillator probability distribution function, and should be experimentally observable. For Ωc ≥ Ω there is no Autler-Townes splitting and the spectrum is composed of a single peak located at the frequency of the probe transition. We show that this effect results from the collapse of the atom to the ground state.KeywordsHarmonic OscillatorCavity ModeRabi FrequencyWeak ProbeDiscrete Energy LevelThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.