Entangled Two-Photon Absorption in Cesium Atoms and the Limitations of the Far-Off-Resonance Approximation

The discrepancies between theoretical and experimental results in the process of entangled two-photon absorption (ETPA) are not fully understood. Atomic systems are a promising alternative for investigating this process without the systematic effects present in molecules. We present a theoretical study of the ETPA process in cesium atoms, focusing on the 6S1/2 --> 8S1/2 transition. The ETPA cross section is evaluated both with and without the far-off-resonance (FOR) approximation, including the contributions from intermediate atomic states and decoherence effects. The quantum state of light considered is described by the joint spectral amplitude of photon-pairs produced by the spontaneous parametric down-conversion process. When the FOR approximation is applied, the enhancement factor is constant (36*pi). In contrast, without this approximation the enhancement factor oscillates with the entanglement time, and achieves a maximum value of 500. These results show the limitations of approximations when calculating the ETPA cross section and contribute to the understanding of the discrepancies between theoretical and experimental values for the ETPA cross section in different samples. The numbers presented in this work can be a starting point for designing experiments aimed at measuring ETPA cross sections in alkali atoms.