Thermodynamic analysis of quantum light amplification

Journal Article · Fri Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 2006 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.74.063822· OSTI ID:20976565

Boukobza, E; Tannor, D J ^[1]

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1. Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel)

Thermodynamics of a three-level maser was studied in the pioneering work of Scovil and Schulz-DuBois [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2, 262 (1959)]. In this work we consider the same three-level model, but treat both the matter and the light quantum mechanically. Specifically, we analyze an extended (three-level) dissipative (ED) Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) within the framework of a quantum heat engine, using formulas for heat flux and power in bipartite systems introduced in our previous work [E. Boukobza and D. J. Tannor Phys. Rev. A 74, 063823 (2006)] Amplification of the selected cavity mode occurs even in this simple model, as seen by a positive steady state power. However, initial field coherence is lost, as seen by the decaying off-diagonal field density matrix elements, and by the Husimi-Kano Q function. We show that after an initial transient time the field's entropy rises linearly during the operation of the engine, which we attribute to the dissipative nature of the evolution and not to matter-field entanglement. We show that the second law of thermodynamics is satisfied in two formulations (Clausius, Carnot) and that the efficiency of the ED JCM heat engine agrees with that defined intuitively by Scovil and Schulz-DuBois. Finally, we compare the steady state heat flux and power of the fully quantum model with the semiclassical counterpart of the ED JCM, and derive the engine efficiency formula of Scovil and Schulz-DuBois analytically from fundamental thermodynamic fluxes.

• OSTI ID: 20976565
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 74; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AMPLIFICATION
DENSITY MATRIX
ENTROPY
HEAT ENGINES
HEAT FLUX
MASERS
QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT
QUANTUM MECHANICS
SEMICLASSICAL APPROXIMATION
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
THERMODYNAMICS
VISIBLE RADIATION