Erratum: Fluctuation theory in quantum-optical systems. II. Rigorous adiabatic elimination by the hierarchy method

Abstract

We present a regorous adiabatic elimination of the atomic variables in the framework of the quantum-statistical single-mode laser model. This procedure, which is systematic and similar to the one used in the semiclassical theory, is based on the hierarchy method proposed years ago by one of us. Using a rigorous definition of the adiabatic limit, we show that the hierarchy is exactly truncated by the limit itself. Thus we recover the Fokker-Planck equation previously derived by us using a nonsystematic procedure. We discuss the advantages of the present adiabatic elimination method over the ones previously used by various authors.