Transmission spectrum of an optical cavity containing N atoms -: art. no. 043805

The transmission spectrum of a high-finesse optical cavity containing an arbitrary number of trapped atoms is presented in the zero-temperature, low saturation limit. We take spatial and motional effects into account and show that in the limit of strong coupling, the important spectral features can be determined for an arbitrary number of atoms, N. We also show that these results have important ramifications in limiting our ability to determine the number of atoms in the cavity.