Generation of a superposition of multiple mesoscopic states of radiation in a resonant cavity

Journal Article · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 2005 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.71.043823· OSTI ID:20653362

Pathak, P K; Agarwal, G S ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078 (United States)

Using resonant interaction between atoms and the field in a high-quality cavity, we show how to generate a superposition of many mesoscopic states of the field. We study the quasiprobability distributions and demonstrate the nonclassicality of the superposition in terms of the zeros of the Q function as well as the negativity of the Wigner function. We discuss the decoherence of the generated superposition state. We propose homodyne techniques of the type developed by [Auffeves et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 230405 (2003)] to monitor the superposition of many mesoscopic states.

• OSTI ID: 20653362
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 71, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.71.043823; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
DISTRIBUTION
ENERGY LEVELS
IONS
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
RADIATION PRESSURE
TRAPPING