High Order Coherence Functions and Spectral Distributions as Given by the Scully-Lamb Quantum Theory of the Laser

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a method for measuring the time evolution of the off-diagonal elements ρn,n+k(t) of the reduced density matrix obtained from the quantum theory of the laser. The decay rates of the off-diagonal matrix element ρn,n+k(t) (k = 2,3) are measured for the first time and compared with that of ρn,n+1(t), which corresponds to the linewidth of the laser. The experimental results agree with the Scully-Lamb quantum theory of the laser.