Entanglement induced by spontaneous emission in spatially extended two-atom systems

We investigate the role of the collective antisymmetric state in entanglement creation by spontaneous emission in a system of two non-overlapping two-level atoms. We calculate and illustrate graphically populations of the collective atomic states and the Wootters entanglement measure (concurrence) for two sets of initial atomic conditions. Our calculations include the dipole-dipole interaction and a spatial separation between the atoms that the antisymmetric state of the system is included throughout even for small interatomic separations. It is shown that spontaneous emission can lead to a transient entanglement between the atoms even if the atoms were prepared initially in an unentangled state. We find that the ability of spontaneous emission to create the transient entanglement relies on the absence of population in the collective symmetric state of the system. For the initial state of only one atom excited, the entanglement builds up rapidly in time and reaches a maximum for the parameter values corresponding roughly to zero population in the symmetric state. On the other hand, for the initial condition of both atoms excited, the atoms remain unentangled until the symmetric state is depopulated. A simple physical interpretation of these results is given in terms of the diagonal states of the density matrix of the system. We also study entanglement creation in a system of two non-identical atoms of different transition frequencies. It is found that the entanglement between the atoms can be enhanced compared to that for identical atoms, and can decay with two different time scales resulting from the coherent transfer of the population from the symmetric to the antisymmetric state. In addition, we find that a decaying initial entanglement between the atoms can display a revival behaviour.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Delayed (sudden) birth of entanglement

The concept of time delayed creation of entanglement by the dissipative process of spontaneous emission is investigated. A threshold effect for the creation of entanglement is found that the initially unentangled qubits can be entangled after a finite time despite the fact that the coherence between the qubits exists for all times. This delayed creation of entanglement, that we call sudden birth of entanglement, is opposite to the currently extensively discussed sudden death of entanglement and is characteristic for transient dynamics of one-photon entangled states of the system. We determine the threshold time for the creation of entanglement and find that it is related to time at which the antisymmetric state remains the only excited state being populated. It is shown that the threshold time can be controlled by the distance between the qubits and the direction of initial excitation relative to the interatomic axis. This effect suggests a new alternative for the study of entanglement and provides an interesting resource for creation on demand of entanglement between two qubits.Comment: References added, version accepted for publication in PR

Entangling two atoms via spontaneous emission

We discuss the creation of entanglement between two two-level atoms in the dissipative process of spontaneous emission. It is shown that spontaneous emission can lead to a transient entanglement between the atoms even if the atoms were prepared initially in an unentangled state. The amount of entanglement created in the system is quantified by using two different measures: concurrence and negativity. We find analytical formulas for the evolution of concurrence and negativity in the system. We also find the analytical relation between the two measures of entanglement. The system consists of two two-level atoms which are separated by an arbitrary distance $r_{12}$ and interact with each other via the dipole-dipole interaction, and the antisymmetric state of the system is included throughout, even for small inter-atomic separations, in contrast to the small sample model. It is shown that for sufficiently large values of the dipole-dipole interaction initially the entanglement exhibits oscillatory behaviour with considerable entanglement in the peaks. For longer times the amount of entanglement is directly related to the population of the slowly decaying antisymmetric state.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Wehrl information entropy and phase distributions of Schrodinger cat and cat-like states

The Wehrl information entropy and its phase density, the so-called Wehrl phase distribution, are applied to describe Schr\"odinger cat and cat-like (kitten) states. The advantages of the Wehrl phase distribution over the Wehrl entropy in a description of the superposition principle are presented. The entropic measures are compared with a conventional phase distribution from the Husimi Q-function. Compact-form formulae for the entropic measures are found for superpositions of well-separated states. Examples of Schr\"odinger cats (including even, odd and Yurke-Stoler coherent states), as well as the cat-like states generated in Kerr medium are analyzed in detail. It is shown that, in contrast to the Wehrl entropy, the Wehrl phase distribution properly distinguishes between different superpositions of unequally-weighted states in respect to their number and phase-space configuration.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Response of a two-level atom to a narrow-bandwidth squeezed-vacuum excitation

Using the coupled-system approach we calculate the optical spectra of the fluorescence and transmitted fields of a two-level atom driven by a squeezed vacuum of bandwidths smaller than the natural atomic linewidth. We find that in this regime of squeezing bandwidths the spectra exhibit unique features, such as a hole burning and a three-peak structure, which do not appear for a broadband excitation. We show that the features are unique to the quantum nature of the driving squeezed vacuum field and donor appear when the atom is driven by a classically squeezed field. We find that a quantum squeezed-vacuum field produces squeezing in the emitted fluorescence field which appears only in the squeezing spectrum while there is no squeezing in the total field. We also discuss a nonresonant excitation and find that depending on the squeezing bandwidth there is a peak or a hole in the spectrum at a frequency corresponding to a three-wave-mixing process. The hole appears only for a broadband excitation and results from the strong correlations between squeezed-vacuum photons

Zeno and Anti Zeno effect for a two level system in a squeezed bath

We discuss the appearance of Zeno (QZE) or anti-Zeno (QAE) effect in an exponentially decaying system. We consider the quantum dynamics of a continuously monitored two level system interacting with a squeezed bath. We find that the behavior of the system depends critically on the way in which the squeezed bath is prepared. For specific choices of the squeezing phase the system shows Zeno or anti-Zeno effect in conditions for which it would decay exponentially if no measurements were done. This result allows for a clear interpretation in terms of the equivalent spin system interacting with a fictitious magnetic field.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures;added references for section 4;changes in the nomenclatur

Phase properties of a new nonlinear coherent state

We study phase properties of a displacement operator type nonlinear coherent state. In particular we evaluate the Pegg-Barnett phase distribution and compare it with phase distributions associated with the Husimi Q function and the Wigner function. We also study number- phase squeezing of this state.Comment: 8 eps figures. to appear in J.Opt