Interaction between a moving atom and an electromagnetic wave

Abstract

Dynamics of a two-level atom moving in an electromagnetic field is studied. The atomic motion gives rise to a momentum-dependent detuning which holds back the atomic transition, and leads to a momentum-dependent Rabi oscillation which causes an overlapping among different Rabi oscillations. When the field is in a Fock state, the atomic population and the mean momentum of the atom exhibit damping oscillation, the damping rate is related to the momentum distribution; the collapse-revival phenomena of the atomic population and the mean momentum will occur if the atomic momentum has some special distribution. When the field is in a superposition state, the collapse-revival phenomena are modified by the atomic momentum distribution and disappear for the wider atomic momentum wavepackets. We also find that each atomic level will split into two sublevels with the same energy difference when the field is in a Fock state and the atom has a definite momentum.