Single-particle model of a strongly driven, dense, nanoscale quantum ensemble

Abstract

We study the effects of interatomic interactions on the quantum dynamics of a dense, nanoscale, atomic ensemble driven by a strong electromagnetic field. We use a self-consistent, mean-field technique based on the pseudo-spectral time-domain method, and a full, three-directional basis to solve the coupled Maxwell-Liouville equations. We find that interatomic interactions generate a decoherence in the state of an ensemble on a much faster timescale than the excited state lifetime of individual atoms. We present a novel single-particle model of the driven, dense ensemble by incorporating interactions into a dephasing rate. This single-particle model reproduces the essential physics of the full simulation, and is an efficient way of rapidly estimating the collective dynamics of a dense ensemble.