Scattering model description of cascaded cavity configurations

Cascaded optical cavities appear in various quantum information processing schemes in which atomic qubits are sitting in separate cavities interconnected by photons as flying qubits. The usual theoretical description relies on a coupled-mode Hamiltonian approach. Here we investigate the system of cascaded cavities without modal decomposition by using a scattering model approach and determine the validity regime of the coupled-mode models. (paper)