Non-Relativistic Quantum Electrodynamics of Atoms in a Rotating Ring Cavity

Abstract

In this paper, we derive a quantum optics model in a non-inertial rotating ring cavity from first principles. We begin with the Dirac equation in curved spacetime, add minimal coupling to the electromagnetic field, and then find the Dirac Hamiltonian for the generalized Born metric. We then formally take the non-relativistic limit by way of Foldy-Wouthuysen transformations and project onto a fermionic Fock space for the atoms' electrons, protons, and neutrons. Focusing on a protium atom, we next move from a minimal coupling gauge to a multipole expansion gauge by taking a Power-Zienau-Woolley transformation under the dipole and long-wavelength approximations. Here, we find additional terms from the rotation of the system including a rotation-induced hyperfine shift of the atomic transition which could possibly be observed experimentally even for small rotation rates. Making the electric dipole, two-level, and rotating-wave approximations, we arrive at a Jaynes-Cummings-like Hamiltonian which also accounts for rotational effects, such as the rotation-induced hyperfine shift and the Sagnac shift for the cavity's counterpropagating modes.