Single-atom trajectories of intermittent fluorescence with quantum jumps

Understanding the trajectories of single quantum systems is a modern theoretical challenge, given that experiments are no longer restricted to ensemble-averaged dynamics. Here, we present a model for a single 3-level atom driven resonantly on two transitions, resulting in intermittent fluorescence from one transition. The consistent histories formalism provides insight into the intermittent ``shelving'' process and predicts the distribution of dark periods for a given trajectory. We further predict quantum interference that leads to oscillations in the quantum-jump probability and discuss the possibility of observing these oscillations experimentally.