Phys. Rev. A 72, 013814 (2005) [16 pages]Effective mass in cavity QEDReceived 17 December 2004; revised 22 March 2005; published 18 July 2005 We consider propagation of a two-level atom coupled to one electromagnetic mode of a high-Q cavity. The atomic center-of-mass motion is treated quantum mechanically and we use a standing wave shape for the mode. The periodicity of the Hamiltonian leads to a spectrum consisting of bands and gaps, which is studied from a Floquet point of view. Based on the band theory, we introduce a set of effective mass parameters that approximately describe the effect of the cavity on the atomic motion, with the emphasis on one associated with the group velocity and on another one that coincides with the conventional effective mass. Propagation of initially Gaussian wave packets is also studied using numerical simulations and the mass parameters extracted thereof are compared with those predicted by the Floquet theory. Scattering and transmission of the wave packet against the cavity are further analyzed, and the constraints for the effective mass approach to be valid are discussed in detail. © 2005 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.72.013814
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.72.013814
PACS:
42.50.Dv, 42.50.Pq, 42.50.Vk
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