ABSTRACT
A two-level system driven by a classical single frequency field in rotating-wave approximation is a basic model for resonance in quantum optics. The probability of making a transition depends sinusoidally on time with a characteristic frequency called the Rabi frequency. The Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) consists of a two-level atomic system driven by a single quantized electromagnetic field mode. The field entropy in the case of an atom interacting with an initially coherent field is expected to reflect the collapse and revival of Rabi oscillations. The photon statistics of the JCM are examined and the entropy concepts are used to describe the apparently disordered collapses. A density matrix method is used to describe the influence of photon statistics in the JCM. The quantum generalization defines entropy through where the trace is taken over a convenient basis set. The thermal field JCM shows enhanced photon variances as expected for an initially Bose-Einstein field with large fluctuations.
