Non-uniqueness of second quantization of electromagnetic field: Stationary States of Jaynes-Cummings model in free space

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the physical characteristics of an atom-field system in the Jaynes-Cummings model depend on the choice of electromagnetic field quantization basis, challenging the assumption of basis independence in second quantization.

Contribution

It reveals the non-uniqueness of second quantization in free space and shows that physical observables vary with the quantization basis choice.

Findings

Physical characteristics depend on the quantization basis.

Second quantization is not basis-independent in this context.

Implications for modeling atom-field interactions in quantum optics.

Abstract

On the example of stationary states of a system consisting of an atom and a quantized electromagnetic field (the Jaynes-Cummings model in free space), it is shown that the physical characteristics of the system (as the energy and the probability distribution of finding the center of mass of the atom) explicitly depend on the choice of the basis of quantization of the electromagnetic field. Therefore, the secondary quantization procedure is not independent of the choice of the quantization basis in the interaction of the field with the material medium.