Spectral properties of light in quantum optics

Abstract

The problem of spectral filtering of quantized light fields is studied, based on the recently developed quantum-optical theory of the action of passive, lossless optical systems [L. Knöll, W. Vogel, and D.-G. Welsch, Phys. Rev. A 36, 3803 (1987)]. Expressions for the operator of the electric field strength of the light and the normally and time-ordered field-correlation functions are derived for the case of a Fabry-Pérot interferometer being present. Various kinds of field decomposition that are usually considered in classical optics are studied. The results are compared with the Fourier approach to spectral properties of light. It is shown that, dependent on the experimental scheme used, new quantum effects appear, which may prevent the observation of the Fourier structure of the light as predicted from classical optics. Quantitatively this is demonstrated for the example of spectral squeezing in resonance fluorescence, where significant discrepancies between the measured and the full Fourier spectrum are found.