Comment on “Thermal-light-induced dynamics: Coherence and revivals in V -type and molecular Jaynes-Cummings systems”

Abstract

Recent numerical and analytical results have been obtained for the dynamics of a $V$-type system, and of a model molecular system, interacting with the thermal states of a cavity with a single mode or with a few discrete modes [D. Avisar and A. D. Wilson-Gordon, Phys. Rev. A 93, 033843 (2016)]. The authors speculate that these results may be relevant to excitation with natural incoherent radiation, such as sunlight, which has a continuous spectrum. We claim that this is incorrect, as are their comments about prior work on natural incoherent radiation that does properly deal with a continuous spectrum. Specifically, while their results obtained for the Jaynes-Cummings systems may be of interest for excitation by thermal states of cavities with a few modes, the discrete nature of their field modes produces dynamics that are fundamentally different from those induced by natural sunlight. Hence, we show here that the criticisms leveled in their paper regarding prior treatments that dealt with the continuous spectrum of natural incoherent radiation, as well as their speculation that excitation with continuous-mode thermal radiation can induce long-lived molecular coherences, are incorrect.