Eur. Phys. J. D (2016) 70: 188
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2016-70403-3

Regular Article

Atomic absorption and emission in non-product states

Centro de Láseres Pulsados CLPU, Parque Científico, 37085 Villamayor, Salamanca, Spain

^a e-mail: psanchos@aemet.es

Received: 22 June 2016
Received in final form: 18 July 2016
Published online: 13 September 2016

Abstract

The properties of non-product states, both (anti)symmetrized and entangled, have been extensively studied in the literature. In this paper, by extending previous partial results, we introduce a general framework to describe atomic absorption and emission in these states. Our approach shows the existence of some fundamental differences between entanglement and (anti)symmetrization and between absorption and emission. For instance, modifications of the emission properties with respect to that of uncorrelated systems occur for any (anti)symmetrized state but only for some very specific entangled states.