Schroedinger cat states and multilevel atoms

We demonstrate that the generalization of the two-level Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) to an N-level atom leads to the creation of up to N macroscopically distinct field states. These field states are Schmidt-orthogonalized superpositions of Fock states. They correspond to macroscopic states of the field, attainable with large mean photon numbers. Unlike the situation with a two-level atom and a coherent-state field, which evolves into a macroscopic coherent superposition state (a Schrodinger cat), we find that when the additional levels participate strongly in the excitation (e.g all transitions are resonant with equal dipole moments) then the system does not evolve into a pure state. We will present some examples of special cases, giving insight into the behavior of three-level atoms and the two-level two-photon JCM