Evolution of the number state in laser process

Abstract

We investigate systematically the evolution of the number state in a laser process by deriving the analytic expression of the density operator and putting it into a normal ordered form. The eigenvalue of the density operator is related to Jacobi polynomials. Then we derive the expression for the mean photon number, the second degree of coherence, the entropy, Wigner function and the photoncount distribution. The nonclassicality is discussed by virtue of the negativity of Wigner function. It is found that the Wigner function is always negative for t < t0, which is independent on the parameter m. On the other hand, the condition for the second degree of coherence larger than 1 is dependent on the parameter m.