Bounds on sub-Poissonian field statistics in the Jaynes-Cummings model.

Abstract

The Jaynes-Cummings model describes the interaction between a two-level atom and a single mode of the radiation field. This system has a conservation law which restricts its dynamics. On the basis of this conservation law alone one can make useful statements about the photon statistics of the fields which arise in the model. Two cases are considered. In the first the field is initially in a coherent state. Here it is found that the field statistics become less sub-Poissonian as the amplitude of the initial state increases. The case of an initial thermal state is also considered. In that situation, if the average number of photons present in the initial state is greater than 2.55, then the field statistics can never become sub-Poissonian.