QUANTUM JUMPS OF THE MICROMASER FIELD - DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR CLOSE TO PHASE-TRANSITION POINTS

The field of the one-atom maser, or micromaser, shows strong variation s in certain parameter regions usually identified as phase transitions . In this paper the time development of the field in the vicinity of t hose regions is investigated. Depending on the parameters, spontaneous jumps or slow transitions between two metastable field values can be observed. Hysteresis behavior also occurs. The results are explained b y means of a quantum Monte Carlo simulation of the maser field as well as a Fokker-Planck description used earlier in micromaser theory.