Quantum theory of optical bistability. I. Nonlinear polarisability model

A quantum treatment of a coherently driven dispersive cavity is given based on a cubic nonlinearity in the polarisability of the internal medium. This system displays bistability and hysteresis in the semiclassical solutions. Quantum fluctuations are included via a Fokker-Planck equation in a generalised P representation. The transmitted light shows a transition from a single-peaked spectrum to a double-peaked spectrum above the threshold of the lower branch. Fluctuations in the field are reduced on the upper branch and both photon bunching and photon antibunching are predicted, for different operating points. An exact solution obtained for the steady-state generalised P function shows decidedly non-equilibrium behaviour, e.g. the lack of a Maxwell construction.