Abstract
Phase transitions in equilibrium systems are the result of a competition between the interparticle energy J and the thermal energy kBT which introduces disorder. In quan tum optics, even when interparticle interactions are negligible as in a very dilute gas, there may be particle correlations due to the common radiation field. The transition from disorder to order consists in a passage from a regime where the atoms emit independently from one another, to a regime where the atoms emit in a strongly correlated way. It depends on a “cooperation number” C which is proportional to the atomic density.
The laser threshold and the optical bistability are discussed as examples, respectively, of 2nd and 1st order phase transitions in quantum optics.
By photon statistics methods the statistical features of these phenomena can be measured with high accuracy. Furthermore, in nonequilibrium optical systems it is possible to st.udy the transient build-up of an ordered state by a rapid passage through an instability. These transients are characterized by large fluctuations which display a scaling behaviour.
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Arecchi, F.T. (1979). Experimental Aspects of Transition Phenomena in Quantum Optics. In: Haken, H. (eds) Pattern Formation by Dynamic Systems and Pattern Recognition. Springer Series in Synergetics, vol 5. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67480-8_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67480-8_3
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