Virtual Processes and Superradiance in Spin-Boson Models

We consider spin-boson models composed by a single bosonic mode and an ensemble of $N$ identical two-level atoms. The situation where the coupling between the bosonic mode and the atoms generates real and virtual processes is studied, where the whole system is in thermal equilibrium with a reservoir at temperature ${\beta }^{-1}$. Phase transitions from ordinary fluorescence to superradiant phase in three different models is investigated. First a model where the coupling between the bosonic mode and the $j-th$ atom is via the pseudo-spin operator ${\sigma }_{(j)}^{,z}$ is studied. Second, we investigate the generalized Dicke model, introducing different coupling constants between the single mode bosonic field and the environment, $g_1$ and $g_2$ for rotating and counter-rotating terms, respectively. Finally it is considered a modified version of the generalized Dicke model with intensity-dependent coupling in the rotating terms. In the first model the zero mode contributes to render the canonical entropy a negative quantity for low temperatures. The last two models presents phase transitions, even when only Hamiltonian terms which generates virtual processes are considered.