Quantum theory of the mazer. III. Spectrum

Abstract

We calculate the spectrum of the micromaser with quantized motion of the pump atoms [M. O. Scully, G. M. Meyer, and H. Walther, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 4144 (1996)] in different velocity regimes. We show that when the kinetic energy of the pump atoms is comparable to the atom-field interaction energy the spectrum of the cavity field is no longer centered at the cavity frequency. In the case of very slow atoms huge broadenings and shifts occur in the vicinity of the mazer resonances. We present approximate analytical results for the spectrum that allow a comparison with the exact numerical calculations.