Year: 2024
Type: preprint
Abstract: Vacuum fluctuations play a central role in spontaneous emission. Recently, it has been suggested that these fluctuations could also be fundamental in the absorption dynamics, breaking the superposition inherent to the linear quantum evolution. We analyze the consistency of that proposal with previous results in double spontaneous emission. Moreover, for the case of single absorption by two atoms, we present a test based on the time dependence of the subsequent spontaneous emission patterns, which can experimentally settle the question. This test is more viable than the original proposal, built on the Casimir effect. Our approach also allows for the comparison between the time scales of vacuum fluctuations as a disentangling mechanism and an emission trigger.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Sancho, Pedro
Institution: Spanish Center for Pulsed Lasers
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4404987426