A typical configuration in which to study CQED19 is shown in the figure. A single quantum emitter, for example an atom, an ion, a single molecule or a quantum dot, is placed inside a microcavity. Two regimes of the time evolution of the system are distinguished. In the strong-coupling regime, the dominant process is the coherent interaction between the emitter and a single resonant mode of the microcavity characterized by the coupling constant g. Energy is exchanged between the emitter and the cavity mode in an oscillatory way at the Rabi frequency, 2g. The energy loss rate through either spontaneous emission from the excited emitter to a continuum of other modes (described by the rate y) and the photon loss rate through the cavity mirrors (described by the rate k) is much smaller than the energy exchange rate (y and k are both much less than g).
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