I Far off resonant Rabi oscillations in a 2 level system

Click For Summary
In a two-level quantum system subjected to a time-varying electric field, significant differences in population transfer are observed when using cosine versus sine functions in the Hamiltonian. With a Rabi frequency of 10,000 MHz and an energy difference of 15,000 MHz, a slight increase in the electric field (from 10,000 to 10,001 MHz) drastically reduces the population in the excited state when using the cosine function, while the sine function shows negligible change. This behavior raises questions about the underlying physics, particularly in terms of resonance and the influence of the field's waveform on population dynamics. The pronounced sensitivity in the cosine case suggests a potential resonance effect that is not present with the sine function. Understanding this discrepancy could provide insights into the dynamics of off-resonant Rabi oscillations in quantum systems.
Malamala
Messages
347
Reaction score
28
Hello! I have a simple 2 level system with the energy difference between the 2 levels, ##\Delta## and I applying a time varying electric field, transferring population from the ground level (initially populated), to the excited level (initially with zero population). The simple Hamiltonian for this is:

$$
2\pi\times\begin{pmatrix}
0 & -\Omega\cos(2\pi\omega t) \\
-\Omega\cos(2\pi\omega t) & \Delta
\end{pmatrix}
$$
where, in my case, the Rabi frequency of the field ##\Omega## is comparable to the energy difference between the 2 levels, ##\Delta##, but ##\omega \ll \Delta, \Omega##. So I am very off-resonant, but I have a lot of power in my field.

For some specific values relevant to my problem, I will assume: ##\Delta = 15,000## MHz, ##\Omega = 10,000## MHz, ##\omega = 35## MHz. Here is my question. When I solve the time dependent Schrodinger equation (TDSE) with this Hamiltonian, for 1 second (I see this effect in general for other times, too), I get a population in the ground state at the end of: ##0.6924873010111454##. If I do the same, but I change ##\Omega## from ##10,000## to ##10,001## I get instead ##0.4847252419701252##, which is a huge difference for a change in the electric field of only ##1/10,000##.

However, if I do the same thing but I use ##\sin(2\pi\omega t)## instead of ##\cos(2\pi\omega t)## in the Hamiltonian, the population goes from ##0.9994980316477893## to ##0.9994977756145095##. I tried other times, too, to check if this holds, true and it seems to be the case i.e. when using ##cos## the population transfer changes a lot for small changes in the electric field, relative to the ##sin## case. Is this effect real (I can't find any mistake in my code and I don't think I am missing any physics, as it's such a simple 2 level system)? And if so, why do I have this huge difference in behavior?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
We often see discussions about what QM and QFT mean, but hardly anything on just how fundamental they are to much of physics. To rectify that, see the following; https://www.cambridge.org/engage/api-gateway/coe/assets/orp/resource/item/66a6a6005101a2ffa86cdd48/original/a-derivation-of-maxwell-s-equations-from-first-principles.pdf 'Somewhat magically, if one then applies local gauge invariance to the Dirac Lagrangian, a field appears, and from this field it is possible to derive Maxwell’s...