Mainz 1997 – scientific programme

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Q: Quantenoptik

Q 24: Poster IIc: Optik und optische Technik

Q 24.1: Poster

Tuesday, March 4, 1997, 18:00–20:00, Phil. Fak.

Mode dynamics in an optical Galton board — •I. Marzoli and W. Schleich — Abteilung für Quantenphysik, Universität Ulm, 89069 Ulm

We present a theoretical study of a classical system represented by a laser field inside a cavity containing time dependent elements. Our treatment is based on the approach developed in [1], that leads to a Schrödinger type equation for the vector describing longitudinal modes of the cavity with different polarization. We derive a set of equations for the temporal evolution of the light field, that is valid also when the intracavity elements change on a time scale comparable to the roundtrip time. The resulting mode dynamics in a grid of energy levels can be regarded as an optical version of a Galton board, where a ball, sloping down a plane, is scattered by an array of pins. Our predictions are compared to the experimental data [2] in different regimes: by adjusting the values of the parameters one may switch from a kind of quantum resonances, characterized by a transfer of population from the fundamental mode to the outermost levels, to periodic revivals of the initial state, where spectral diffusion is strongly suppressed.

[1] C.A. Schrama, D. Bouwmeester, G. Nienhuis, and J.P. Woerdman, Phys. Rev. A 51, 641 (1995)

[2] D. Bouwmeester, Ph.D. thesis, University of Leiden, The Netherlands (1995)