Howard J. Carmichael

Observation of ground-state quantum beats in atomic spontaneous emission.

We report ground-state quantum beats in spontaneous emission from a continuously driven atomic ensemble. Beats are visible only in an intensity autocorrelation and evidence spontaneously generated coherence in radiative decay. Our measurement realizes a quantum eraser where a first photon detection prepares a superposition and a second erases the which path information in the intermediate state.

Stationary inversion of a two level system coupled to an off-resonant cavity with strong dissipation

We present an off-resonant excitation scheme that realizes pronounced stationary inversion in a two level system. The created inversion exploits a cavity-assisted two-photon resonance to enhance the multiphoton regime of nonlinear cavity QED and survives even in a semiconductor environment, where the cavity decay rate is comparable to the cavity-dot coupling rate. Exciton populations of greater than 0.75 are obtained in the presence of realistic decays and pure dephasing. Quantum trajectory simulations and master equation calculations help elucidate the underlying physics and delineate the limitations of a simplified rate equation model. Experimental signatures of inversion and multiphoton cavity QED are predicted in the fluorescence intensity and second-order correlation function measured as a function of drive power.

From quantum feedback to probabilistic error correction: manipulation of quantum beats in cavity QED

It is shown how one can implement quantum feedback and probabilistic error correction in an open quantum system consisting of a single atom, with ground- and excited-state Zeeman structure, in a driven two-mode optical cavity. The ground-state superposition is manipulated and controlled through conditional measurements and external fields, which shield the coherence and correct quantum errors. Modeling an experimentally realistic situation demonstrates the robustness of the proposal for realization in the laboratory.

Anomalous light shift through quantum jumps in quasiresonant Rayleigh scattering

An anomalous light shift in the precession of a ground-state Zeeman coherence is observed: the Larmor frequency increases with the strength of a drive that is blue (red) detuned from a transition out of the lower (upper) energy level. Our measurements are made on Rb 85 atoms traversing an optical cavity containing a few photons; shifts as large as 1% per photon are recorded. The anomalous shift arises from an accumulation of phase driven by quantum jumps. It is stochastic and accompanied by broadening.