Abstract

In quantum optics and cavity QED many situations involve interaction processes between the quantum EM field and radiating atoms in the presence of passive, lossless, non dispersive, linear, classical optical systems such as optical cavities, beam splitters. The important, but essentially classical effects of the optical system can be modelled in terms of a spatially dependent electric permittity (and magnetic permeability, for magnetic media) function for the media that constitute the device. The associated vector mode functions are the exact solutions of a generalisd Helmholtz equation involving the permittivity functions, and allow the features of the device to be included into the description of the quantum EM field, enabling macroscopic canonical quantisation of the EM field and radiative atoms system to be carried out.

© 1996 Optical Society of America