Macroscopic superposition states of light via two-photon resonant interaction of atoms with cavity field

Abstract

Abstract We show that the resonant interaction between a two-level atom and a quantized field mode via two-photon transitions leads to extreme quantum entanglement between the atom and quantum field. Nevertheless during the time evolution there are moments at which the atom-field system becomes asymptotically disentangled. We investigate statistical properties of the pure-field states generated at such times. We show that at the quarter of the revival time the field is produced in the pure superposition state (Schrodinger cat state) composed of two coherent states with the same amplitude but which are out of phase by 90° (we obtain approximate analytical solution for this superposition state). We show that the interference between component states leads to non-classical oscillations in the photon number distribution. At the revival time the field is again in the pure state (we present an approximate analytical solution for the corresponding state vector). This pure state is not a superposition state. Neve...