Atom-field interaction with dissipative coupling

In this chapter, we treat the basic quantum process of electromagnetic field propagation through an atomic system in a resonant Fabry-Perot cavity. We obtain the transmission characteristic of such a cavity, which is a basic element for a quantum heat converter. When the system is opened only by a population decay and a polarization dephasing, we get only an optical bistability characteristic. By openness according to the Lindblad- Sandulescu-Scutaru theory, we get also a coupling through environment between population and polarization, which, in some conditions, leads to an energy transfer from the disordered environment to the coherent electromagnetic field. We find that this phenomenon, which has experimental evidence, is an effect of an atom-atom coupling.

Keywords: pseudo-spin operators, Pauli matrices, Bloch vector, population, polarization, dipole moment, coupling coefficient, Rabi frequency, decay, dephasing, atomic detuning, homogeneous broadening, inhomogeneous broadening, Lorentzian shape, Gaussian shape, optical bistability, nonlinear detuning, saturation, McCall coefficients, cooperativity.