Abstract

We discuss Monte Carlo simulation of the quantum master equation in terms of system wave functions undergoing a sequence of quantum jumps based on the delay function for the occurrence of the “next jump”.^1-3 The formalism can be applied to calculate the density operator and correlation functions (spectra) in quantum systems with a large number of degrees of freedom. We present the formalism and applications to (i) a multilevel atom undergoing spontaneous emission including mechanical light effects (in particular, laser cooling in the quantum limit), (ii) coupling of an atomic system to a squeezed vacuum, and (iii) cavity QED problems with coupling to thermal and squeezed baths.

© 1992 Optical Society of America