Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 24: Quantum Effects: Entanglement and Decoherence III

Q 24.3: Talk

Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 15:00–15:15, B/gHS

Interference in Photon Absorption and Emission by a single Atom — •Andreas Alexander Buchheit and Giovanna Morigi — Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany

The quest for systematically determining the fundamental constants requires new levels of precision in atomic spectroscopy. Frequency shifts of the order of a few hundred Hertz can be relevant for verifying the predictions of quantum electrodynamics such as the prediction for the proton radius. We discuss the derivation of a master equation for the spontaneous decay of a multilevel atom and set our focus on interference effects such as processes which can lead to the decay of a pairs of levels into a single state. These processes are typically neglected, but are present in the systematic derivation of the master equation of a multilevel atom. We analyse in detail their physical origin and determine the order of magnitude of their effect on the spectroscopic properties of the Hydrogen atom.