Two-Channel Interaction Models in Cavity QED

We introduce four fully quantized models of light -matter interactions in optical or microwave cavities. These are the first exactly soluble models in cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) that provide two transition channels for the flipping of atomic states. In these models a loss-free cavity is assumed to support three or four quantized field modes, which are coupled to a single atom. The atom exchanges photons with the cavity, in either the Raman configuration including both Stokes and anti-Stokes modes, or through two-photon cascade processes. We obtain the effective Hamiltonians for these models by adiabatically eliminating an off-resonant intermediate atomic level, and discuss their novel properties in comparison to the existing one-channel Jaynes-Cummings models. We give a detailed description of a method to find exact analytic solutions for the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues for the Hamiltonians of our four models. These are also valid when the AC Stark shifts are included. It is shown that the eigenvalues can be expressed in very simple terms, and formulas for normalized eigenvectors are also given, as well as discussions of some of their simple properties. Heisenberg picture equations of motions are derived for several operators with solutions provided in a couple of cases. The dynamics of the systems with both Fock state and coherent state fields are demonstrated and discussed using the model's two key variables, the atomic inversion and the expectation value of photon number. Clear evidences of high efficiency mode-mixing are seen in both the Raman and cascade configurations, and different kinds of collapses and revivals are encountered in the atomic inversions. Effects of several factors like the AC Stark shift and variations in the complex coupling constants are also illustrated. Finally, we show how to realize a proposed stronger test of local realism with a three particle entangled state without resorting to Bell's inequalities, as proposed by Greenberger, Horne and Zeilinger. Using one of our models the equivalence of the necessary entangled state can be dynamically generated, and a method to detect related correlations of spin projections is discussed.