Ehrenfest’s theorem and nonclassical states of light: 2. Dynamics of nonclassical states of light

Abstract

The states of radiation of a single frequency and polarization propagating in free space are very conveniently represented by those of a quantum mechanical simple harmonic oscillator. This fact is exploited, together with the Ehrenfest theorem, to map the time evolution of the radiation to the dynamics of the oscillator. This enables a graphical comparison of the behaviour of classical and nonclassical states of radiation.