On the Solution of the Tavis-Cummings Hamiltonian in Quantum Optics: Structure and Dynamics Based on the Collective Spin Basis

We present a comprehensive theoretical and computational study of the Tavis–Cummings model in the collective-spin basis, addressing both its static spectral properties and dynamic behavior under unitary and open-system evolution. By exploiting the commutation of the total-excitation operator with the Hamiltonian, we construct block-diagonal representations for systems of two-level molecules coupled to a single quantized cavity mode. We derive analytic expressions for the degeneracies, block dimensions, and secular polynomials, introducing a family of orthogonal “Félix–Sanz-Vicario” new class of orthogonal polynomials (here baptized Félix-Sanz-Vicario polynomials) whose roots furnish the energy eigenvalues and whose finite-degree structure allows precise control over photon-number truncation in small manifolds. Numerical implementations in Python (QuTiP) confirm exact agreement with the original Tavis–Cummings solution in each excitation manifold, while also highlighting the role of lower-spin subspaces—absent in the bosonized highest-spin description—in mediating configurational molecular interactions via a rank-1 spherical tensor operator. Time-dependent simulations compare dynamics under the rotating wave aproximation (Tavis-Cummings model) and without it (Dicke model), demonstrating population transfer, Rabi oscillations, and collapse–revival phenomena. The dynamics of open quantum system, via a Lindblad master equation, illustrate cavity-loss effects on photon-number decay, von Neumann entanglement entropy, and coherent exchange under dissipation. Our results establish that the collective-spin framework, using a set of solutions in terms of orthogonal polynomials, provides both analytical insight and computational efficiency for spectroscopic modeling, ultrastrong coupling studies, and the design of low-photon-number quantum simulations.

• Autores: Félix Rojas, Mario José
• Tipo de recurso: Trabajo de grado de pregrado
• Fecha de publicación: 2025
• Institución: Universidad de Antioquia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UdeA
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co:10495/47849
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/10495/47849
• Palabra clave: Óptica cuántica; Quantum optics; Polaritones; Polaritons; Tavis-Cummings Hamiltonian; Collective spin basis; Rabi oscillations; Polaritons
• Rights: openAccess
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/