Higher-generation Schrodinger cat states in cavity QED

Higher-generation Schrodinger cat states of the quantized electromagnetic f ield can be produced in a high-Q cavity, starting from a coherent state, th rough the passage of prepared Rydberg atoms interacting dispersively across it. These states are natural generalizations of the even and odd coherent states, the Nth-generations corresponding to specific superpositions of 2(N ) states on a circle in phase space with well defined parity, and present v ery peculiar properties. Their photon statistics interchange between super- and sub-Poissonian behaviours and the nature of the photon bunching oscill ates as the field intensity in the cavity is varied. For higher-generation even states, the minimum value of the Mandel factor almost reaches -1.0 and the state represents the Fock state \2(N)]. Squeezing properties and the W igner function of these higher-generation Schrodinger cat states are also c onsidered.