INTENSE-FIELD RENORMALIZATION OF CAVITY-INDUCED SPONTANEOUS EMISSION

We examine theoretically the recent experiments of Lange and Walther o n the dynamical interaction of Rydberg atoms in a microwave cavity in the presence of a strong driving field. In particular, we study how th e intense field renormalizes the cavity-induced spontaneous emission. For this purpose we derive the master equation for the atomic dynamics by adiabatically eliminating the cavity-field variables, while treati ng the intense driving field nonperturbatively. We present analytical and numerical solutions of the master equation, taking into account th e turn on and turn off of the atom-field coupling in the rest frame of the atoms, as well as the velocity distribution of the atomic beam. W e obtain good agreement between theoretical results and experiments.