Energy Spectrum of the Dicke Hamiltonian

In this paper we analyze the energy eigenvalues of the Dicke Hamiltonian which describes the interaction of N two-level atoms with an electromagnetic field. Using as a starting point the classification of the collective states proposed by Tavis and Cummings, we first derive approximate analytic expressions for the energy eigenvalues which are appropriate for special values of the collective parameters. We next evaluate a first-order correction which allows the application of our results to a wider class of collective states. An accurate description of the energy spectrum for arbitrary values of the collective parameters is provided using a method first introduced by Scharf for the case of resonant interaction, suitably generalized to account for possible frequency detuning between the radiation and the atomic resonant frequency. The limit of validity of the approximation is analyzed and the results compared with the numerical diagonalization of the Dicke Hamiltonian. With the exception of asymptotically small ranges of values of the parameters, the analytic expression for the density of energy eigenvalues derived in this paper compares very well with the results of the numerical diagonalization.