Single photon excitation of dissipative coupled two-level systems |
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| Jader P Santos and Fernando L Semião | |
| Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, Brazil | |
| Although much is known about the dynamics of simple quantum systems interacting with few modes of quantum light, the interaction with a continuum of modes in a propagating quantum pulse has not been fully explored yet. The main reason seems to be the fact that quantum field-matter interactions were first experimentally controlled in quantum electrodynamics of cavities, where the light field can be tailored to response as a single mode bosonic system in interaction with the atoms. Recent advances in the control of single photon sources make it plausible to think about the interaction of atomic and molecular systems with quantized pulses of different temporal and spatial shapes using current technology. In this work, we consider the excitation of coupled two-level systems by single photon quantum electromagnetic pulses. Energetic relaxation for each subsystem is included, and the dynamics of physical quantities such as occupation probabilities are studied for different shapes of the quantum pulse and varying interactions strengths between the two-level systems. Future developments may cover the inclusion of vibrational degrees of freedom and phase relaxations in order to study the single photon excitation of molecular dimers by quantum pulses. |