A quantum model for collective recoil lasing

Free electron laser (FEL) and collective atomic recoil laser (CARL) are described by the same model of classical equations for properly defined sealed variables. These equations are extended to the quantum domain describing the particle's motion by a Schrodinger equation coupled to a self-consistent radiation field. The model depends on a single collective parameter rho macr which represents the maximum number of photons emitted per particle. We demonstrate that the classical model is recovered in the limit rho macr Gt 1. in which the Wigner function associated to the Schrodinger equation obeys to the classical Vlasov equation. On the contrary, for rho macr <or= 1, a new quantum regime is obtained in which both FELs and CARLs behave as a two-state system coupled to the self-consistent radiation field and described by Maxwell-Bloch equations.