Resonant photon exchange by atom pairs in high-Qcavities

Abstract
A system of two identical atoms sharing a photon with a high-Q resonator mode is studied by a nonperturbative formalism. As opposed to previously considered models, here the interatom coupling is shown to result from competing effects of vacuum Rabi splitting and photon exchange via off-resonant modes. Strong suppression of interatom excitation transfer is predicted at both near- and far-zone separations.