SU(3) squeezing: quantum and semiclassical evolutions

There is renewed interest in squeezing in systems of higher symmetry, spin-1 and also particles of arbitrary spin. We introduce a criterion for squeezing in SU(3) systems that is a generalization of the squeezing parameter in SU(2) ( spin ½ ) systems given by M. Kitagawa and M. Ueda. We investigate squeezing generated by the time evolution of an initially coherent state under nonlinear Hamiltonians in the generators of the su(3) algebra. We show that two broad types of squeezing exist in SU(3) systems. By comparing the semiclassical results with the results of full quantum mechanical calculations, we also show that both types of squeezing can be quantitatively understood using phase space techniques in the semiclassical approximation.