2009/03/16 by Anatoly A. Svidzinsky, Marlan O. Scully, Svidzinsky, Anatoly A. +1 · 1 citation
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph) #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #FOS: Physical sciences #Optics (physics.optics) #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0903.2844
openalex publication_date 2009/03/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present analytical solutions for the evolution of collective states of N atoms. On the one hand is a (timed) Dicke state prepared by absorption of a single photon and exhibiting superradiant decay. This is in strong contrast to evolution of a symmetric Dicke state which is trapped for large atomic clouds. We show that virtual processes yield a small effect on the evolution of the rapidly decaying timed Dicke state. However, they change the long time dynamics from exponential decay into a power-law behavior which can be observed experimentally. For trapped states virtual processes are much more important and provide new decay channels resulting in a slow decay of the otherwise trapped state.