CAVITY QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS

This chapter focuses on cavity quantum electrodynamics. It presents the modifications of the spontaneous radiation rate in a cavity and the shifts of energy levels. The chapter focuses on experimental work, with an outline of a theoretical framework in which the experiments may be understood. In the laboratory, the study of atoms in cavities is a relatively young field in which much of the effort is still aimed at elucidating the basic physical principles at work and demonstrating the elementary modifications of energies and the rates of an atom in a cavity. However, the ability to adjust the electromagnetic spectrum of the vacuum is leading into a remarkable new domain of quantum physics in which atoms can decay from the ground state to an excited state, radiative corrections can be far larger than fine structure, and electromagnetic fields can be prepared with an exact number of photons. This realm of physics is now known as “cavity quantum electrodynamics. © 1991 Academic Press Inc.