Comment on "Quantum Theory of Dispersive Electromagnetic Fields"

Abstract

Recently Drummond and Hillery [Phys. Rev.A 59, 691(1999)] presented a quantum theory of dispersion based on the analysis of a coupled system of the electromagnetic field and atoms in the multipolar QED formulation. The theory has led to the explicit mode-expansions for various field-operators in a homogeneous medium characterized by an arbitrary number of resonant transitions with different frequencies. In this Comment, we drawn attention to a similar multipolar study by Juzeliunas [Phys. Rev.A 53, 3543 (1996); 55, 929 (1997)] on the field quantization in a discrete molecular (or atomic) medium. A comparative analysis of the two approaches is carried out, highlighting both common and distinctive features.