Distilling two-atom distance information from intensity-intensity correlation functions

Jun-Tao Chang, Jörg Evers, and M. Suhail Zubairy
Phys. Rev. A 74, 043820 – Published 31 October 2006

Abstract

The intensity-intensity correlation function of the resonance fluorescence light of two two-level atoms driven by a resonant standing-wave laser field is examined. Our aim is to gain information on the distance between the two atoms from observables accessible in experiments. For this, we numerically solve the time-evolution equations of the system and calculate the steady-state intensity-intensity correlation by using the Laplace transform and quantum regression theory. By varying the interatomic distance from about half a wavelength down to small fractions of a wavelength, we show that the correlation function exhibits characteristic properties for different distance ranges. Based on these results, we propose a scheme to obtain interatomic distance information from the power spectrum of the correlation function, which allows us to extract the desired distance information over a wide range of distances with high accuracy.

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  • Received 11 April 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.74.043820

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Jun-Tao Chang1, Jörg Evers2,1, and M. Suhail Zubairy1,*

  • 1Institute for Quantum Studies and Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
  • 2Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany

  • *Electronic address: zubairy@physics.tamu.edu

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Vol. 74, Iss. 4 — October 2006

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