Here we consider the continuous pumping of a dissipative QED cavity and
derive the time-dependent density operator of the cavity field prepared
initially as a superposition of mesoscopic coherent states. The control of the
coherence of this superposition is analyzed considering the injection of a beam
of two-level Rydberg atoms through the cavity. Our treatment is compared to
other approaches.Comment: 15 pages, 6 PostScript figures, To appear in Phys. Rev.
