Atomic nonclassicality in the Jaynes-Cummings model

Abstract

The Jaynes-Cummings model, a fundamental and ideal paradigm for the study of atom-field interaction with remarkable beauty and complexity, plays an instrumental role in cavity quantum electrodynamics and related experiments. The dynamics of both the atom and the field in this ubiquitous model, which exhibit a number of intriguing nonclassical effects, have been widely studied and engineered from various perspectives. In particular, the collapses and revivals for several physical quantities have been revealed, with important implications for quantum foundations and technologies. In this work, we study the atomic nonclassicality in the Jaynes-Cummings model in terms of an information-theoretic quantifier, reveal its basic features, and compare them with various well known observations of atomic dynamics. The sensitivity of the dynamics on both the initial atomic states and field states indicates rich patterns of atom-field interaction, and may be exploited to estimate, prepare, and engineer atomic states via fields, or vice versa.