Atom-Field Interaction: From Vacuum Fluctuations to Quantum Radiation and Quantum Dissipation or Radiation Reaction

In this paper, we dwell on three issues: (1) revisit the relation between vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction in atom-field interactions, an old issue that began in the 1970s and settled in the 1990s with its resolution recorded in monographs; (2) the fluctuation–dissipation relation (FDR) of the system, pointing out the differences between the conventional form in linear response theory (LRT) assuming ultra-weak coupling between the system and the bath, and the FDR in an equilibrated final state, relaxed from the nonequilibrium evolution of an open quantum system; (3) quantum radiation from an atom interacting with a quantum field: We begin with vacuum fluctuations in the field acting on the internal degrees of freedom (idf) of an atom, adding to its dynamics a stochastic component which engenders quantum radiation whose backreaction causes quantum dissipation in the idf of the atom. We show explicitly how different terms representing these processes appear in the equations of motion. Then, using the example of a stationary atom, we show how the absence of radiation in this simple cases is a result of complex cancellations, at a far away observation point, of the interference between emitted radiation from the atom and the local fluctuations in the free field. In so doing we point out in Issue 1 that the entity which enters into the duality relation with vacuum fluctuations is not radiation reaction, which can exist as a classical entity, but quantum dissipation. Finally, regarding issue 2, we point out for systems with many atoms, the co-existence of a set of correlation-propagation relations (CPRs) describing how the correlations between the atoms are related to the propagation of their (retarded non-Markovian) mutual influence manifesting in the quantum field. The CPR is absolutely crucial in keeping the balance of energy flows between the constituents of the system, and between the system and its environment. Without the consideration of this additional relation in tether with the FDR, dynamical self-consistency cannot be sustained. A combination of these two sets of relations forms a generalized matrix FDR relation that captures the physical essence of the interaction between an atom and a quantum field at arbitrary coupling strength.