Abstract
A calculation is presented of the unequal-time electric field commutation relation for an electromagnetic field coupled to a general multilevel atom treated as a nonrelativistic system. Use is made of the multipolar Hamiltonian in its dipole approximate form to describe the atom-field interaction. Contributions to the commutator in addition to the usual Pauli-Jordan results for a free field are found, and a physical interpretation of their origin is offered.

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