dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaCooperative spin decoherence and population transfer
| Authors | C. Genes, P. R. Berman |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0601204 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0601204 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevA.73.053809 |
| Journal | Phys. Rev. A 73, 053809 (2006) |
Abstract
An ensemble of multilevel atoms is a good candidate for a quantum information storage device. The information is encrypted in the collective ground state atomic coherence, which, in the absence of external excitation, is decoupled from the vacuum and therefore decoherence free. However, in the process of manipulation of atoms with light pulses (writing, reading), one inadvertently introduces a coupling to the environment, i.e. a source of decoherence. The dissipation process is often treated as an independent process for each atom in the ensemble, an approach which fails at large atomic optical depths where cooperative effects must be taken into account. In this paper, the cooperative behavior of spin decoherence and population transfer for a system of two, driven multilevel-atoms is studied. Not surprisingly, an enhancement in the decoherence rate is found, when the atoms are separated by a distance that is small compared to an optical wavelength; however, it is found that this rate increases even further for somewhat larger separations for atoms aligned along the direction of the driving field's propagation vector. A treatment of the cooperative modification of optical pumping rates and an effect of polarization swapping between atoms is also discussed, lending additional insight into the origin of the collective decay.
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"abstract": "An ensemble of multilevel atoms is a good candidate for a quantum information\nstorage device. The information is encrypted in the collective ground state\natomic coherence, which, in the absence of external excitation, is decoupled\nfrom the vacuum and therefore decoherence free. However, in the process of\nmanipulation of atoms with light pulses (writing, reading), one inadvertently\nintroduces a coupling to the environment, i.e. a source of decoherence. The\ndissipation process is often treated as an independent process for each atom in\nthe ensemble, an approach which fails at large atomic optical depths where\ncooperative effects must be taken into account. In this paper, the cooperative\nbehavior of spin decoherence and population transfer for a system of two,\ndriven multilevel-atoms is studied. Not surprisingly, an enhancement in the\ndecoherence rate is found, when the atoms are separated by a distance that is\nsmall compared to an optical wavelength; however, it is found that this rate\nincreases even further for somewhat larger separations for atoms aligned along\nthe direction of the driving field\u0027s propagation vector. A treatment of the\ncooperative modification of optical pumping rates and an effect of polarization\nswapping between atoms is also discussed, lending additional insight into the\norigin of the collective decay.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0601204",
"authors": [
"C. Genes",
"P. R. Berman"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevA.73.053809",
"journal_ref": "Phys. Rev. A 73, 053809 (2006)",
"title": "Cooperative spin decoherence and population transfer",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0601204"
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