There has been substantial interest of late on the issue of coherence as a resource in quantum thermodynamics. To date, however, analyses have focussed on somewhat artificial theoretical models. We seek to bring these ideas closer to experimental investigation by examining the ``catalytic'' nature of quantum optical coherence. Here the interaction of a coherent state cavity field with a sequence of two-level atoms is considered, a state ubiquitous in quantum optics as a model of a stable, classical source of light. The Jaynes-Cummings interaction Hamiltonian is used, so that an exact solution for the dynamics can be formed, and the evolution of the atomic and cavity states with each atom-field interaction analysed. In this way, the degradation of the coherent state is examined as coherence is transferred to the sequence of atoms. The associated degradation of the coherence in the cavity mode is significant in the context of the use of coherence as a thermodynamic resource.

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Jaynes-Cummings 模型中的相干性和催化作用

最近人们对作为量子热力学资源的相干性问题产生了浓厚的兴趣。然而，迄今为止，分析主要集中在有些人为的理论模型上。我们试图通过检查量子光学相干性的“催化”性质，使这些想法更接近实验研究。这里考虑了相干态腔场与一系列两能级原子的相互作用，这种状态在量子光学中无处不在，作为稳定的经典光源模型。使用 Jaynes-Cummings 相互作用哈密顿量，因此可以形成动力学的精确解，并分析每个原子场相互作用的原子和腔态的演变。通过这种方式，随着相干性转移到原子序列，可以检查相干态的退化。