J. C. Garrison and R. Y. Chiao
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198508861
- eISBN:
- 9780191708640
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198508861.003.0019
- Subject:
- Physics, Atomic, Laser, and Optical Physics
This chapter examines the evolution of an open system — the sample — with the quantum Liouville equation for the world density operator. The fundamental approximation is that the action of the sample ...
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This chapter examines the evolution of an open system — the sample — with the quantum Liouville equation for the world density operator. The fundamental approximation is that the action of the sample on the environment is negligible compared to the action of the environment on the sample. This leads to the master equation for the (reduced) sample density operator. Photons in a cavity and a two-level atom are presented as examples. The P-function representation of the sample density operator yields the Fokker-Planck equation. This is used to show the robustness of coherent states, and to describe a driven mode in a lossy cavity. The discussion next turns to quantum jumps and their experimental observation. Quantum jumps are related to the master equations by means of the Monte Carlo wavefunction algorithm, quantum trajectories, and quantum state diffusion.Less
This chapter examines the evolution of an open system — the sample — with the quantum Liouville equation for the world density operator. The fundamental approximation is that the action of the sample on the environment is negligible compared to the action of the environment on the sample. This leads to the master equation for the (reduced) sample density operator. Photons in a cavity and a two-level atom are presented as examples. The P-function representation of the sample density operator yields the Fokker-Planck equation. This is used to show the robustness of coherent states, and to describe a driven mode in a lossy cavity. The discussion next turns to quantum jumps and their experimental observation. Quantum jumps are related to the master equations by means of the Monte Carlo wavefunction algorithm, quantum trajectories, and quantum state diffusion.
