Semiclassical limit and separability of the Jaynes-Cummings model

Abstract

The Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) of a two-level atom interacting with a quantized radiation field has been investigated theoretically. Of particular interest is the transition of a quantized electromagnetic field of the model to a classical one in the limit of very large average photon number. In this thesis, two aspects of the JCM are examined. Firstly, it is shown that, in contrast to the general case, for specic initial atom-field states, there is exact correspondence between the atomic inversion predicted by the JCM and that predicted by the semiclassical model in which the field is treated classically from the outset. Secondly, the degree of quantum entanglement of the JCM is investigated quantitatively and it is shown that, at any nite absolute temperature greater than zero, the atom and field are never separable and the degree of quantum entanglement approaches zero in the high and low temperature limits