Adiabatic transfer of light in a double cavity and the optical Landau-Zener problem
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M1 (Canada)
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States)
- Centre for Cold Matter, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)
We analyze the evolution of an electromagnetic field inside a double cavity when the difference in length between the two cavities is changed, e.g., by translating the common mirror. We find that this allows photons to be moved deterministically from one cavity to the other. We are able to obtain the conditions for adiabatic transfer by first mapping the Maxwell wave equation for the electric field onto a Schroedinger-like wave equation and then using the Landau-Zener result for the transition probability at an avoided crossing. Our analysis reveals that this mapping only rigorously holds when the two cavities are weakly coupled (i.e., in the regime of a highly reflective common mirror) and that, generally speaking, care is required when attempting a Hamiltonian description of cavity electrodynamics with time-dependent boundary conditions.
- OSTI ID:
- 22093378
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 84, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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