A brief review is given of theoretical and experimental investigations of the spontaneous emission from an atom in a resonator cavity. A theory of spontaneous emission from a two-level atom in free space and in a cavity is presented in a methodical unified manner. In a single-mode resonator the structure of the spectrum of the emitted photons is a singlet or a doublet, depending on the ratio of the cavity damping to the constant of the interaction of an atom with a field. The emission spectrum of an atom in a cavity with two modes with similar frequencies may have a triplet structure.

PACS: 32.70.−n, 42.60.Da (all) DOI: 10.1070/PU1994v037n04ABEH000022 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/1994/4/j/ A1994NM92600011 Citation: Oraevskii A N "Spontaneous emission in a cavity" Phys. Usp. 37 393–405 (1994) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Оригинал: Ораевский А Н «Спонтанное излучение в резонаторе» УФН 164 415–427 (1994); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0164.199404j.0415