Spontaneous emission of a photon: Wave-packet structures and atom-photon entanglement

M. V. Fedorov, M. A. Efremov, A. E. Kazakov, K. W. Chan, C. K. Law, and J. H. Eberly
Phys. Rev. A 72, 032110 – Published 22 September 2005

Abstract

Spontaneous emission of a photon by an atom is described theoretically in three dimensions with the initial wave function of a finite-mass atom taken in the form of a finite-size wave packet. Recoil and wave-packet spreading are taken into account. The total atom-photon wave function is found in the momentum and coordinate representations as the solution of an initial-value problem. The atom-photon entanglement arising in such a process is shown to be closely related to the structure of atom and photon wave packets which can be measured in the coincidence and single-particle schemes of measurements. Two predicted effects, arising under the conditions of high entanglement, are anomalous narrowing of the coincidence wave packets and, under different conditions, anomalous broadening of the single-particle wave packets. Fundamental symmetry relations between the photon and atom single-particle and coincidence wave-packet widths are established. The relationship with the famous scenario of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen is discussed.

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  • Received 14 December 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.72.032110

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. V. Fedorov1, M. A. Efremov1, A. E. Kazakov1, K. W. Chan2, C. K. Law3, and J. H. Eberly2

  • 1A. M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov Street, Moscow, 119991 Russia
  • 2Center for Quantum Information and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, NT, Hong Kong SAR, China

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Vol. 72, Iss. 3 — September 2005

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