Abstract
When an electron is prepared in a metastable state, it will remain there for some period of time, until it eventually jumps back to the ground state by the emission of a resonant photon. This event can be monitored conveniently by coupling the ground state to a dipole allowed state through a resonant laser field. Then the return of the electron from the forbidden state manifests itself in a sudden appearance of fluorescence from the allowed transition. When the forbidden transition is being driven resonantly as well, the fluorescence will be quenched again, while the electron returns to the forbidden level. If this intuitive picture is basically correct, then it is possible to monitor the individual quantum jumps, which are accompanied by a single photon event only, by the -random appearance and extinction of a strong fluorescence signal - by a macroscopic signal. This process is a unique single atom phenomenon which is washed out gradually, when more and more particles participate in the scattering process.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
H.J. Kimble, M. Dagenais and L. Mandel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 39,691 (1977)
M. Dagenais and L. Mandel, Phys. Rev. A 18,2217 (1978)
W. Neuhauser, M. Hohenstatt, P.E. Toschek and H.G. Dehmelt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 41, 233 (1978)
D.J. Wineland, Science 226,395 (1984)
E.T. Jaynes and F.W. Cummings, Prog. IEEE 51,89 (1963)
J.H. Eberly, N.B. Narozhny and J.J. Sanchez-Mondragon, Phys. Rev. Lett. 44,1323 (1980)
G. Rempe, H. Walther, and N. Klein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58,353 (1987)
C. Cohen Tannoudji, in Frontiers in Laser Spectroscopy, ed. by R. Balian, S. Haroche and S. Liberman (North Holland, Amsterdam, 1977)
H.J. Carmichael and D.F. Walls, J. Phys. B9,1199 (1976)
F. Diedrich and H. Walther, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58,203 (1987)
H.G. Dehmelt, Bull. Amer. Soc. 20,60 (1975)
R.J. Cook and H.J. Kimble, Phys. Rev. Lett. 54,1023 (1985)
C. Cohen-Tannodji and J. Dalibard, Eur. Lett. 1, 441 (1986)
A. Schenzle and R.G. Brewer, Phys. Rev. A34,3127 (1986)
P. Zoller, M. Marthe and D.F. Walls, Phys. Rev. A
A. Schenzle, R.G. DeVoe and R.G. Brewer, Phys. Rev. A33,2127 (1986)
D.T. Pegg, R. Loudon and P.L. Knight, Phys. Rev. A33,4085 (1986)
R.J. Glauber, Phys. Rev. 130,2529 (1963)
R.J. Glauber, Phys. Rev. 131,2766 (1963)
G.S. Agarwal, Quantum Optics, Vol. 70 of Springer Tracts in Modern Physics(Springer Verlag, Berlin 1974) p. 39
J.R. Ackerhalt and J.H. Eberly, Phys. Rev. D10,3350 (1974)
M. Lax, Phys. Rev. 157,231 (1967)
L. Mandel, Opt. Lett. 4,205 (1979)
R.J. Cook, Phys. Rev. A23,1243 (1981)
R. Short and L. Mandel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 51,384 (1983)
R.J. Glauber, in Quantum Optics and Electronics, ed. by C. DeWitt, A. Balandin and C. Cohen-Tannoudji (Gordon and Breach, New York, 1965), p. 178
P.L. Kelley and W.H. Kleiner, Phys. Rev. 136,316 (1964)
L. Mandel, Proc. Phys. Soc. London 72,1037 (1958)
L. Mandel, Prog. Phys. Soc. London 74,233 (1959)
W. Nagourney, J. Sandberg and H.G. Dehmelt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56,2727 (1986)
J.C. Berquist, R.G. Hulet, W.M. Itano and D.J. Wineland, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57,1699 (1986)
T. Sauter, W. Neuhauser, R. Blatt and P.E. Toschek, Phys. Rev. Lett. 17,1469 (1986)
T. Sauter, R. Blatt, W. Neuhauser and P.E. Toschek, Opt. Commun. 60,287 (1486)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Springer-Verlag
About this paper
Cite this paper
Schenzle, A. (1987). Macroscopic quantum jumps. In: Ehlotzky, F. (eds) Fundamentals of Quantum Optics II. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 282. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-18035-4_64
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-18035-4_64
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-18035-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47716-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive