Metriplectic Structure of a Radiation-Matter-Interaction Toy Model

A dynamical system defined by a metriplectic structure is a dissipative model characterized by a specific pair of tensors, which defines a Leibniz bracket; and a free energy, formed by a "Hamiltonian" and an entropy, playing the role of dynamics generator. Generally, these tensors are a Poisson bracket tensor, describing the Hamiltonian part of the dynamics, and a symmetric metric tensor, that models purely dissipative dynamics. In this paper, the metriplectic system describing a simplified two-photon absorption by a two-level atom is disclosed. The Hamiltonian component is sufficient to describe the free electromagnetic radiation. The metric component encodes the radiation-matter coupling, driving the system to an asymptotically stable state in which the excited level of the atom is populated due to absorption, and the radiation has disappeared. First, a description of the system is used, based on the real-imaginary decomposition of the electromagnetic field phasor; then, the whole metriplectic system is re-written in terms of the phase-amplitude pair, named Madelung variables. This work is intended as a first result to pave the way for applying the metriplectic formalism to many other irreversible processes in nonlinear optics.