Influence of Virtual Photon Process on the Generation of Squeezed Light from Atoms in an Optical Cavity

We show that a collection of two-level atoms in an optical cavity beyond the rotating wave approximation and in the dispersive and strong-coupling regime constitutes a nonlinear medium and is capable of generating squeezed state of light. It is found that squeezing produced in the strong-coupling regime is significantly higher compared to that produced in the dispersive limit. On the other hand, we also show that it could be possible to observe the Dicke superradiant quantum phase transition in the dispersive regime where the vector potential term is negligible. Such a system can be an essential component of a larger quantum-communication system.