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We show that macroscopic superposition (Schrodinger cat) states of a quantized single-mode cavity field can be produced via the interaction of this field with a two-level atom which is driven by a classical field even for small initial intensities of the quantized cavity mode. We show that with a properly chosen driving field an almost pure superposition state with arbitrary amplitudes and phases of component states can be produced.

Exact analytical expressions describing the evolution of the expectation values and the variances of the Stokes operators are derived for the elliptically polarized light propagating in a Kerr medium with dissipation. It is shown that quantum fluctuations of the field essentially affect the polarization of the field. The explicit quantum formulas describing the azimuth and the ellipticity of the polarization ellipse as well as the degree of polarization are derived and illustrated graphically. Quantum fluctuations in the Stokes parameters are discussed, and the evolution of the signal-to-noise ratio is shown to be reduced by the quantum field fluctuations. Role of the dissipation is shown explicitly in a fully quantitative way from the exact analytical solutions.

Phase properties of elliptically polarized light propagating through a nonlinear Kerr medium are considered within the framework of the Pegg-Barnett Hermitian phase formalism. The joint phase proba...

The phase properties of the self-squeezed states generated during the evolution of the anharmonic oscillator are discussed from the point of view of the new phase formalism of Pegg and Barnett. The phase distribution, the expectation values and the variances of the Hermitian phase operator are obtained and their evolution illustrated graphically. The mean values for the phase cosine and sine functions as well as their variances are also calculated. The results are compared to the Susskind-Glogower formalism results and the results based on the measured phase concept. The relation between squeezing and the phase properties of the field is discussed briefly.