Non-ideal atom-light interfaces: modeling real-world effects

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive model for real-world atom-light interfaces that accounts for various imperfections and inhomogeneities, enabling better understanding and optimization of quantum state manipulations in practical experiments.

Contribution

The authors introduce a Gaussian-state based model that incorporates spatial, temporal, and experimental imperfections in atom-light interfaces, applicable across diverse experimental conditions.

Findings

Detector time-resolution impacts spin squeezing dynamics.

Spatial inhomogeneities affect coherence in atom-light interactions.

Atomic motion influences the evolution of quantum states.

Abstract

We present a model which describes coherent and incoherent processes in continuous-variable atom-light interfaces. We assume Gaussian states for light and atoms and formulate the system dynamics in terms of first and second moments of the angular momentum operators. Spatial and temporal inhomogeneities in light and atom variables are incorporated by partitioning the system into small homogeneous segments. Furthermore, other experimental imperfections as for instance limited detector time-resolution and atomic motion are simulated. The model is capable of describing many experimental situations ranging from room temperature vapor cells to sub-mK atomic clouds. To illustrate the method, we calculate the effect of detector time-resolution, spatial inhomogeneities and atomic motion on the spin squeezing dynamics of rubidium 87 on the D2 transition.