RETROACTIVE QUANTUM JUMPS IN A STRONGLY COUPLED ATOM-FIELD SYSTEM

We investigate a novel type of conditional dynamic that occurs in the strongly driven Jaynes-Cummings system with dissipation. Extending the work of Alsing and Crumichael [Quantum Opt. 3, 13 (1991)], we present a combined numerical and analytic study of the stochastic master equa tion that describes the system's conditional evolution when the cavity output is continuously observed via homodyne detection, but atomic sp ontaneous emission is not monitored at all. We find that quantum jumps of the atomic state are induced by its dynamical coupling to the opti cal field, in order retroactively to justify atypical fluctuations occ urring in thr homodyne photocurrent. [S0031-9007(98)07672-8].