Microscopic theory of modified spontaneous emission in a dielectric.
The modification of the radiative decay rate of a source atom embedded in a uniform, isotropic dielectric is calculated to first order in the density of the dielectric atoms using a microscopic approach. In contrast to the recent results of Crenshaw and Bowden [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1851 (2000)]], the decay rate is found to be consistent with macroscopic theories based on quantization of the field in the dielectric.
Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics, FOCUS Center, and Physics Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1120, USA.
P R
PR
Berman
P W
PW
Milonni