Coherent phenomena in two band photonic crystals

Summary form only given. The majority of studies of quantum optical processes occurring in atoms interacting with modified reservoirs, such as microcavities and photonic band gap materials, have concentrated on spontaneous emission dynamics. In this paper we report our recent theoretical results on absorption and dispersion dynamics of a A-type system where one transition spontaneously decays in a two band photonic reservoir. The coupling to this modified reservoir leads to a non-Markovian spontaneous decay of the atomic state, which in return influences the dispersion and absorption properties of a probe laser pulse coupling to the other atomic transition.