The Super-Strong Coupling Regime of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics

D. Meiser, P. Meystre

Published 2006-05-02, updated 2006-07-07Version 3

We describe a qualitatively new regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics, the super strong coupling regime. This regime is characterized by atom-field coupling strengths of the order of the free spectral range of the cavity, resulting in a significant change in the spatial mode functions of the light field. It can be reached in practice for cold atoms trapped in an optical dipole potential inside the resonator. We present a nonperturbative scheme that allows us to calculate the frequencies and linewidths of the modified field modes, thereby providing a good starting point for a quantization of the theory.