Back-reaction effects of quantum vacuum in cavity quantum electrodynamics

We theoretically study an optical system in which the back-reaction of quantum vacuum manifests itself as a sizable suppression of the absorption by a three-level emitter embedded in an optical cavity. A theoretical model including the anti-rotating-wave terms of the light-matter interaction Hamiltonian is developed to describe the conversion of zero-point fluctuations into observable radiation, as well as the back-reaction of the quantum vacuum onto the emitter.