Macroscopic Interference Effects in Resonant Cavities

Abstract

We investigate the possibility of interference effects induced by a macroscopic quantum-mechanical superposition of almost orthogonal coherent states – a Schrödinger cat state – in a resonant micro-cavity. Despite the fact that a single atom, used as a probe of the cat state, on the average only change the mean number of photons by at most one unit, we show that this single atom can change the system drastically. Interference between the initial and almost orthogonal macroscopic quantum states of the radiation field can now take place. Dissipation under current experimental conditions is taken into account and it is found that this does not necessarily change the interference effects dramatically.