Darmstadt 2008 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 44: Quanteneffekte (Interferenz / Sonstige)

Q 44.1: Talk

Thursday, March 13, 2008, 14:00–14:15, 2D

Vacuum-induced couplings of dipole moments in a pair of atoms — •Sandra Isabelle Schmid and Jörg Evers — Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Deutschland

In single atom systems, vacuum-coupling of different transition dipole moments can induce spontaneously generated coherences which give rise to a multitude of interesting effects. These couplings, however, only act between non-orthogonal dipole moments and thus rarely occur in real atoms. But in [1], they were demonstrated in a realistic four-level system in J=1/2 to J=1/2 configuration.

Two nearby atoms can dipole-dipole interact by exchanging virtual photons via the vacuum. This dipole-dipole interaction can also couple transitions with orthogonal dipole moments, which crucially influences the system dynamics [2,3]. Even when averaging over different geometrical setups the effects resulting from these couplings do not vanish [4].

Here, we investigate a system consisting of a pair of atoms in J=1/2 to J=1/2 configuration where both types of couplings occur. In particular, we are interested in the interplay of the two vacuum-mediated interactions. As observables, we discuss the influence of the different couplings on the resonance fluorescence intensity and the spectrum.

[1] M. Kiffner, J. Evers, and C. H. Keitel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 100403 (2006)
[2] G. S. Agarwal and A. K. Patnaik, Phys. Rev. A 63, 043805 (2001)
[3] J. Evers, M. Kiffner, M. Macovei, and C. H. Keitel, Phys. Rev. A 73, 023804 (2006)
[4] S. I. Schmid and J. Evers, arXiv:0709.2103 (2007)