Multiatom cooperative emission following single-photon absorption: Dicke-state dynamics

We investigate conditions under which multiatom absorption of a single photon leads to cooperative decay. Our analysis reveals the symmetry properties of the multiatom Dicke states underlying the cooperative decay dynamics and their spatio-temporal manifestations, particularly, the forward-directed spontaneous emission investigated by Scully et al ( 2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 010501).