MSc Photonics

Quantum Optics
Marc Torrent Cuairan

Quantum Theory of Light Matter Interaction

1. Consider one single mode of the free quantized e.m. field characterized
by its wavevector ~k = wc ~n and its polarization ~, which we assume to be linear.
(a) If this mode contains zero photons, which is the expected value for the
energy, linear momentum and angular momentum?
(b)If this mode is in the |ni Fock state, which is the expected value of the
transverse electric field? And for the square of the transverse electric field?
And for the third power of the transverse electric field? And for the fourth
power of the transverse electric field? Assume the electric dipole approximation.
Hint:

with E =



~
~
~ (~r) = iE ~ a
E
eik~r a
eik~r

(1)

p
~/20 L3 .

(a) If this mode contains zero photons, which is the expected value for the
energy, linear momentum and angular momentum?
In order to calculate the expected values of the operators energy and momentum we
need to know how are they defined in the second quantization. The energy is defined as


X
H=
~i a
i a
i + 21
(2)
i

the integral sums all possible modes of the e.m. field. In our problem we limit our
calculations to a single mode i, therefore the hamiltonian can be written as


(3)
H = ~ a
a
+ 12

The linear momentum is defined as

P~ = P~k + P~

(4)

~ r , t), which in the absence of particles

The parallel contribution is defined P~k = q A(~

becomes zero, P~k = 0. Therefore, the linear momentum operator for the free e.m. field
is
X

P~ =
~~ki a
i a
i
(5)
i

which for one mode of the free e.m. field becomes

P~ = ~~ki a
i a
i

(6)

D E
will be
The expected value H
D E
~
= h0| H
|0i = h0| ~(
H
a a
+ 21 ) |0i = h0|
|0i + h0| a
a
|0i =
2
~
~
~
h0|0i + h0| a
|0i =
+ h0|1i =
=
2
2
2
D E

The expected value P~ will be

(7)

D E
~
~
~

(8)
a
|0i =
h0|
a a
|0i =
h0|1i = 0
P~ = h0| P~ |0i = h0| a
c
c
c
D E
= ~ and the
The expected value for the hamiltonian of the free e.m. field takes H
2
D E

~
expected value for the linear momentum takes P = 0. The expected value for the
D E
= 0 due to the linear polarization of the e.m. field.
angular momentum is zero L

(b)If this mode is in the |ni Fock state, which is the expected value of the
transverse electric field? And for the square of the transverse electric field?
And for the third power of the transverse electric field? And for the fourth
power of the transverse electric field? Assume the electric dipole approximation.
The transverse electric field is defined as


~
~
~ (~r) = iE ~ a
E
eik~r a
eik~r
with E =
operators.

(9)

~/20 L3 and, a
and a
corresponding to the annihilation and creation

The expected value of an operator the |ni Fock state is defined as

D E
= hn|O|ni

O
From the properties of the operators a
and a

a
|ni = n |n 1i

a
|ni = n + 1 |n + 1i

(10)

(11)

a
a
|ni = n |ni
A expected value of an odd number of a
and a
operators will always be zero. For
instance, in order that the expected value of an even number of operators leads to nonzero, there must be an equal number of creation and destruction operators in the same
product.
D
E D
E D
E
D
E
~ (~r) , |E
~ (~r)|2 , |E
~ (~r)|3 and |E
~ (~r)|4
Thefore, the expected values for E
will be




E
~
~
~
~
~ (~r)|ni = hn|iE ~ a
~ (~r) = hn|E
eik~r a
eik~r |ni = iE ~ hn| a
eik~r a
eik~r |ni =
E




~
~
~
~
= iE ~ hn| a
eik~r a
eik~r |ni = iE ~ hn|
aeik~r |ni hn|
a eik~r |ni =


~
~
= iE ~ eik~r hn|
a|ni eik~r hn|
a |ni =



~
~
= iE ~ eik~r hn| n |n 1i eik~r hn| n + 1 |n + 1i =


~
~
= iE ~ eik~r n hn|n 1i eik~r n + 1 hn|n + 1i
(12)
Using the orthogonality of the Fock states, hi|ji = ij , the expected value for the field
will be
D
E
~ (~r) = 0
(13)
E
D

D
E
~ (~r)|2 ,
The expected value of the second power of the e.m. field |E
  

2
 ~ 2
i~k~
r
i~k~
r
~ 2 |ni = E2 hn| a

e
|ni =
E  = hn|E





aa
|ni + hn|
a a
|ni =
= E2 hn| a
a
+ a
a
|ni = E2 hn|



= E2 hn| a
n + 1 |n + 1i + n hn|ni =




= E2 (n + 1) hn|ni + n hn|ni = E2 2n + 1

(14)

  

~ 
 ~ 2
2n
+
1
E  =
2L3

(15)

  
 ~ 3
The expected value of the third power of the e.m. field E
,

  

3
~
~
 ~ 3
~ 3 |ni = (iE ~)3 hn| a
eik~r a
eik~r |ni
E  = hn|E

(16)

By applying the third power on the e.m. field, we will only obtain combination of
three creation and annihilation operators, and as said before, an odd number of creation
and annihilation operators leads to the zero value. For instance, we get the following
combinations of expected values for the operators
  
 ~ 3
E  hn|aaa|ni hn|aaa |ni + hn|a a a|ni hn|a a a |ni hn|aa a|ni +
(17)

hn|aa a |ni hn|a aa|ni + hn|a aa |ni

Using the orthogonality properties of the Fock states, hi|ji = ij ,
  
 ~ 3
E  = 0

(18)

  
 ~ 4
The expected value of the fourth power of the field E
,

  
4

 ~ 4
i~k~
r
i~k~
r
~ 3 |ni = (iE ~)4 hn| a
|ni

e
E  = hn|E

(19)

The same approximation as before is done. The only terms that survive are
  

 ~ 4
E  = (iE ~)4 hn|aaa a |ni + hn|aa aa |ni + hn|aa a a|ni + hn|a aaa |ni +

+ hn|a aa a|ni + hn|a a aa|ni
(20)
Let us calculate every braket separately,

hn|aaa a |ni = hn| aaa n + 1 |n + 1i = hn| aa n + 1 n + 2 |n + 2i =

= hn| aa n + 1 n + 2 |n + 2i = hn| a n + 1(n + 2) |ni =

= hn| (n + 1)(n + 2) |n + 1i = (n + 1)(n + 2)

hn|aa aa |ni = hn| aa aa |ni = hn| aa a n + 1 |n + 1i = hn| aa (n + 1) |ni =

= hn| a n + 1(n + 1) |n + 1i = hn| (n + 1)2 |ni = (n + 1)2

hn|aa a a|ni = hn| aa a a |ni = hn| aa n |ni =

= hn| a n + 1n |n + 1i = hn| (n + 1)n |ni = n(n + 1)

hn|a aaa |ni = hn| a aaa |ni = hn| a aa n + 1 |n + 1i = hn| a a(n + 1) |ni =
= hn| n(n + 1) |ni = n(n + 1)

hn|a aa a|ni = hn| a an |ni = hn| n2 |ni = n2

hn|a a aa|ni = hn| a a aa |ni = hn| a a a n |n 1i

= hn| a a n 1 n |n 2i = hn| a (n 1) n |n 1i =
= hn| n(n 1) |ni = n(n 1)
  
 ~ 4
And therefore, the expected value E
is

  
h
i
 ~ 4
E  = (iE ~)4 (n + 1)(n + 2) + (n + 1)2 + 2n(n + 1) + n2 + n(n 1) =


= 6E4 n2 + n + 12
  
 ~ 4
E  = 6

~
20 L3

!2

n2 + n +

1
2

(21)

(22)

2. A coherent state |i is defined in terms of a superposition of Fock states

as follows:
||2 /2

|i = e

X
n
|ni
n!
n=0

(1)

(a) Check that for a coherent state the probability P (n) to have n photons is
given by:

n
2
||
2
(2)
P (n) = | hn|i |2 = e||
n!
and that the mean photon number is hN i = ||2 .
(b) Plot the photon probability distribution for hN i = 0.1, hN i = 1, and hN i =
1000
(c) Check that for a coherent state the variance in the expected value of the
photon number is: (N )2 = ||2 = hN i
(d) Show that for a coherent state:
N
1
=
h|N |i
||

(3)

(a) Check that for a coherent state the probability P (n) to have n photons is
given by:
n

2
||
2
(4)
P (n) = | hn|i |2 = e||
n!
and that the mean photon number is hN i = ||2 .

2

X
n
2


|ni  =
P (n) = | hn|i |2 =  hn| e|| /2
n!
n=0


2
X n
2


|ni 
= e|| /2 hn|
n!
n=0

(5)

From equation
P (5)nand the orthogonal properties of the Fock states, the only term of the

braket hn|
n=0 n! |ni that will survive will be the n term. Therefore,

n
2




||
n
n
2
2


2
2
2



P (n) = | hn|i |2 = e|| /2 hn| |ni  = e|| /2  = e||
n!
n!
n!

(6)

The mean number

in terms of the creation and annihilation

of photons hN i can be written

operators as a a . For instance, a and a act over a coherent state as

a |i = |i
h| a = h|

(7)

Therefore,
D E
hN i = a a = h| a a |i = h|i = ||2

(8)

(b) Plot the photon probability distribution for hN i = 0.1, hN i = 1, and

hN i = 1000
We plotted the different distributions for each expected value hN i = 0.1, hN i = 1,
and hN i = 1000, we added hN i = 3 in order to see more clearly the evolution.

Figure 1: Photon probability distributions for different number of photons expected values hN i = 0.1, hN i = 1, hN i = 1000, and hN i = 3.

(c) Check that for a coherent state the variance in the expected value of the
photon number is: (N )2 = ||2 = hN i


The variance (N )2 is defined as (N )2 = N 2 hN i2 .
E D
E D E

2 D E D
N = a aa a = a (a a + 1)a = a a aa + a a =
= h|a a aa|i + h|a a|i = ||4 + ||2

(9)

In eq. (9) we have used the commutator between a and a to calculate the expected
value.
(10)
hN i = h|N |i = h|a a|i = ||2
Therefore, the variance (N )2 ,


(N )2 = N 2 hN i2 = ||4 + ||2 ||4 = ||2
(N )2 = ||2 = hN i

(11)
(12)

The last result means that the uncertainty in the number of photons in a coherent state
goes as the square root of the number of photons of the field. The number uncertainty
goes with the strength of the field.
(d) Show that for a coherent state:
N
1
=
h|N |i
||

(13)

To proof eq. (13) we will use the solutions from the previous exercises. Combining eq.
(10) and (12).
||
1
N
=
=
(14)
h|N |i
||2
||
The eq. (13) corresponds to the relative dispersion which actually, it gets smaller with
the field intensity.

3. Consider the following state for one mode of the e.m. field
1
|i = (|i + |i)
2
where |i and |i are two different coherent states with = r ei and =
r ei .
(a) Show that
h|i =

i
2
2
1h
1 + e(r +r )/2 er r cos( ) cos(r r sin( ))
2

2 () |i, with D
being the displacement operator, then
(b) Show that if |i = D
h|i =

i
1h
2
1 + e2r
2

2 () |i, which is the probability P (n) to have n photons for

(c) For |i = D
state |i?
Hints:
x

e =

X
xn
n=0

||2 /2

|i = e

n!

X
n
|ni
n!
n=0

(a) Show that

h|i =

i
2
2
1h
1 + e(r +r )/2 er r cos( ) cos(r r sin( ))
2

The state |i is defined as |i = 21 (|i + |i). Therefore,

h|i =


1
h|i + h|i + h|i + h|i
4

Let us do the calculations of the brackets inside:

!
!

X
X
( )n
m
||2 /2
||2 /2
hn|
|mi =
h|i = e
e
n!
m!
n=0
m=0
=e

||2

X
( )n
n=0

n!

hn|ni = e

||2 ||2

=1

(1)

(2)

||2 /2

h|i =

=e

||2

X
( )n
hn|
n!
n=0

X
( )n

n!

n=0
||2 /2

h|i =

=e

h|i =

(||2 +||2 )/2

=e

n=0

n!

||2 /2

!
=
(3)

=1

X
m
|mi
m!
m=0

hn|ni = e

X
( )n

X
m
|mi
m!
m=0

||2 ||2

||2 /2

n!

X
( )n
hn|
n!
n=0

||2 /2

X
( )n
n=0

||2 /2

hn|ni = e

X
( )n
hn|
n!
n=0

(||2 +||2 )/2

(||2 +||2 )/2

!
=
(4)

X
m
|mi
m!
m=0

!
=
(5)

(||2 +||2 )/2

hn|ni = e

Grouped all together in h|i


1
h|i + h|i + h|i + h|i =
4

i
1h
2
2

= 2 + e(|| +|| )/2 e + e

4

h|i =

(6)

Applying the definitions = r ei and = r ei

h|i =

i

i( )
i( )
1h
2
2
er r e
2 + e(|| +|| )/2 er r e
4

(7)

We can simplify the parenthesis as

er r e

i( )

i( )

er r e

= 2er r cos( ) cos(r r sin( ))

And applying it to eq. (7)

i
1h
2
2
2 + 2e(|| +|| )/2 er r cos( ) cos(r r sin( ))
4
i
1h
2
2
h|i = 1 + e(|| +|| )/2 er r cos( ) cos(r r sin( ))
2

h|i =

10

(8)
(9)

 2 () |i, with D
being the displacement operator,
(b) Show that if |i = D
then
i
1h
2
2r
h|i = 1 + e
2
From the properties of the displacement operator
2 () |i D
1 () |i = D()

1 () |0i = |i (10)
|i = D
|i |0i = D()
|i D
|i = |i

(11)


1
h|i + h|i + h|i + h|i =
4

1
2 + h|i + h|i
=
4
!

X
( )n
||2 /2

h|i = h|i = |i = e
hn|
n!
n=0
h|i =

||2

=e

X
( )n
n=0

n!

=e

||2

X
(||2 )n
n=0

n!


1
2 + h|i + h|i
4

||2 /2

X
n
|ni
n!
n=0

(12)

!
=
(13)

2||2

=e

Therefore,
h|i =

 1

1
2
2
1 + e2|| =
1 + e2r
2
2

(14)

2 () |i, which is the probability P (n) to have n photons for

(c) For |i = D
state |i.
1
2


P (n) = | hn|i |2 =  hn|i + hn|i 
2
2
1
2
n
()n 2  1 e|| /2  n
2
2

n 

P (n) =  e|| /2 + e|| /2

+
()
=



2
2
n!
n!
n!
 1 e||2 /2 

2 1 e||2
2


n
n 
2n 

+ ()  =
=
||  1 + (1)n 
2
4
n!
n!
The expression (16) will be defined
(
P (n) =

0
||2n ||2
n! e

11

for n even
for n odd

(15)

(16)

(17)