Theory of the microscopic maser phase transitions

Phase diagrams of the micromaser system are mapped out in terms of the physical parameters at hand like the atom cavity transit time τ, the atom–photon frequency detuning Δω, the number of thermal photons nb and the probability a for a pump atom to be in its excited state. Critical fluctuations are studied in terms of correlation measurements on atoms having passed through the micromaser or on the microcavity photons themselves. At sufficiently large values of the detuning, we find a “twinkling” mode of the micromaser system. Detailed properties of the trapping states are also presented