title: How to measure the phase diffusion dynamics in the micromaser.
abstract: We propose a realistic scheme for measuring the micromaser linewidth by monitoring the phase diffusion dynamics of the cavity field. Our strategy consists of exciting an initial coherent state with the same photon number distribution as the micromaser steady-state field, singling out a purely diffusive process in the system dynamics. After the injection of a counterfield, measurements of the population statistics of a probe atom allow us to derive the micromaser linewidth in all ranges of the relevant parameters, establishing experimentally the distinctive features of the micromaser spectrum due to the discreteness of the electromagnetic field.
authors.affiliation: INFM-Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casagrande
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferraro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lulli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonifacio
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Solano
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Walther