title: Environment-Assisted Speed-up of the Field Evolution in Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics.
abstract: We measure the quantum speed of the state evolution of the field in a weakly driven optical cavity QED system. To this end, the mode of the electromagnetic field is considered as a quantum system of interest with a preferential coupling to a tunable environment: the atoms. By controlling the environment, i.e., changing the number of atoms coupled to the optical cavity mode, an environment-assisted speed-up is realized: the quantum speed of the state repopulation in the optical cavity increases with the coupling strength between the optical cavity mode and this non-Markovian environment (the number of atoms).
authors.affiliation: Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Cimmarusti
authors.affiliation: Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Opto-Electronics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.affiliation: Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: L P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Corcos
authors.affiliation: Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Orozco
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Division and Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deffner