206 research outputs found
Cooperative quantum jumps for three dipole-interacting atoms
We investigate the effect of the dipole-dipole interaction on the quantum
jump statistics of three atoms. This is done for three-level systems in a V
configuration and in what may be called a D configuration. The transition rates
between the four different intensity periods are calculated in closed form.
Cooperative effects are shown to increase by a factor of 2 compared to two of
either three-level systems. This results in transition rates that are, for
distances of about one wavelength of the strong transition, up to 100% higher
than for independent systems. In addition the double and triple jump rates are
calculated from the transition rates. In this case cooperative effects of up to
170% for distances of about one wavelength and still up to 15% around 10
wavelengths are found. Nevertheless, for the parameters of an experiment with
Hg+ ions the effects are negligible, in agreement with the experimental data.
For three Ba+ ions this seems to indicate that the large cooperative effects
observed experimentally cannot be explained by the dipole-dipole interaction.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. Revised version, to be published in PR
Causality, particle localization and positivity of the energy
Positivity of the Hamiltonian alone is used to show that particles, if
initially localized in a finite region, immediately develop infinite tails.Comment: To appear in: Irreversibility and Causality in Quantum Theory --
Semigroups and Rigged Hilbert Spaces, edited by A. Bohm, H.-D. Doebner and P.
Kielanowski, Springer Lecture Notes in Physics, Vol. 504 (1998
Passage-time distributions from a spin-boson detector model
The passage-time distribution for a spread-out quantum particle to traverse a
specific region is calculated using a detailed quantum model for the detector
involved. That model, developed and investigated in earlier works, is based on
the detected particle's enhancement of the coupling between a collection of
spins (in a metastable state) and their environment. We treat the continuum
limit of the model, under the assumption of the Markov property, and calculate
the particle state immediately after the first detection. An explicit example
with 15 boson modes shows excellent agreement between the discrete model and
the continuum limit. Analytical expressions for the passage-time distribution
as well as numerical examples are presented. The precision of the measurement
scheme is estimated and its optimization discussed. For slow particles, the
precision goes like , which improves previous estimates,
obtained with a quantum clock model.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; minor changes, references corrected; accepted
for publication in Phys. Rev.
The intensity correlation function of "blinking" quantum systems
Explicit expressions are determined for the photon correlation function of
``blinking'' quantum systems, i.e. systems with different types of fluorescent
periods. These expressions can be used for a fit to experimental data and for
obtaining system parameters therefrom. For two dipole-dipole interacting
systems the dependence on the dipole coupling constant is explicitly given and
shown to be particularly pronounced if the strong driving is reduced. We
propose to use this for an experimental verification of the dipole-dipole
interaction.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, uses iopams.st
Effect of frequency mismatched photons in quantum information processing
Many promising schemes for quantum information processing (QIP) rely on
few-photon interference effects. In these proposals, the photons are treated as
being indistinguishable particles. However, single photon sources are typically
subject to variation from device to device. Thus the photons emitted from
different sources will not be perfectly identical, and there will be some
variation in their frequencies. Here, we analyse the effect of this frequency
mismatch on QIP schemes. As examples, we consider the distributed QIP protocol
proposed by Barrett and Kok, and Hong-Ou-Mandel interference which lies at the
heart of many linear optical schemes for quantum computing. In the distributed
QIP protocol, we find that the fidelity of entangled qubit states depends
crucially on the time resolution of single photon detectors. In particular,
there is no reduction in the fidelity when an ideal detector model is assumed,
while reduced fidelities may be encountered when using realistic detectors with
a finite response time. We obtain similar results in the case of Hong-Ou-Mandel
interference -- with perfect detectors, a modified version of quantum
interference is seen, and the visibility of the interference pattern is reduced
as the detector time resolution is reduced. Our findings indicate that problems
due to frequency mismatch can be overcome, provided sufficiently fast detectors
are available.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. Comments welcome. v2: Minor changes. v3: Cleaned
up 3 formatting error
Atomic cluster state build up with macroscopic heralding
We describe a measurement-based state preparation scheme for the efficient
build up of cluster states in atom-cavity systems. As in a recent proposal for
the generation of maximally entangled atom pairs [Metz et al., Phys. Rev. Lett.
97, 040503 (2006)], we use an electron shelving technique to avoid the
necessity for the detection of single photons. Instead, the successful fusion
of smaller into larger clusters is heralded by an easy-to-detect macroscopic
fluorescence signal. High fidelities are achieved even in the vicinity of the
bad cavity limit and are essentially independent of the concrete size of the
system parameters.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures; minor changes, mainly clarification
Improvement by laser quenching of an "atom diode": a one-way barrier for ultra-cold atoms
Different laser devices working as ``atom diodes'' or ``one-way barriers''
for ultra-cold atoms have been proposed recently. They transmit ground state
level atoms coming from one side, say from the left, but reflect them when they
come from the other side. We combine a previous model, consisting of the
stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) from the ground to an excited state
and a state-selective mirror potential, with a localized quenching laser which
produces spontaneous decay back to the ground state. This avoids backwards
motion, provides more control of the decay process and therefore a more compact
and useful device.Comment: 6 page
Quantum optical time-of-arrival model in three dimensions
We investigate the three-dimensional formulation of a recently proposed
operational arrival-time model. It is shown that within typical conditions for
optical transitions the results of the simple one-dimensional version are
generally valid. Differences that may occur are consequences of Doppler and
momentum-transfer effects. Ways to minimize these are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Atomic time-of-arrival measurements with a laser of finite beam width
A natural approach to measure the time of arrival of an atom at a spatial
region is to illuminate this region with a laser and detect the first
fluorescence photons produced by the excitation of the atom and subsequent
decay. We investigate the actual physical content of such a measurement in
terms of atomic dynamical variables, taking into account the finite width of
the laser beam. Different operation regimes are identified, in particular the
ones in which the quantum current density may be obtained.Comment: 7 figure
Optimal atomic detection by control of detuning and spatial dependence of laser intensity
Atomic detection by fluorescence may fail because of reflection from the
laser or transmission without excitation. The detection probability for a given
velocity range may be improved by controlling the detuning and the spatial
dependence of the laser intensity. A simple optimization method is discussed
and exemplified
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