Weak and strong coupling regimes, vacuum Rabi splitting and nonstandard resonances

Abstract

For two discrete-level quantum systems in interaction, we follow the displacement in the complex plane of the eigen-energies of the compound system when the spectrum of one of the two systems becomes continuous. These new points are usually called resonances. This allows us to define and to calculate a critical value of the coupling constant which separates two well-known coupling regimes. We also give an example of these resonances for the hydrogen atom coupled to the continuum of the states of the transverse electromagnetic field in the vacuum. We justify that some resonances be neglected.