Noise in strong laser-atom interactions: Frequency fluctuations and nonexponential correlations

Abstract

We extend our study of the effects of jump-type noise on laser-atom interactions to frequency-telegraph noise. Such noise can be used as a model of collisional effects, in which the atomic transition frequency randomly jumps, or as a model of finite laser bandwidth effects, in which the laser frequency exhibits random jumps. We show that these two types of frequency noise can be distinguished in light-scattering spectra. We also discuss examples which demonstrate both temporal and spectral motional narrowing, nonexponential correlations, and non-Lorentzian spectra. Its exact solubility in finite terms makes the frequency-telegraph noise model an attractive alternative to the white-noise Ornstein-Uhlenbeck frequency noise model which has been previously applied to laser-atom interactions.