Extracting energy from a single heat bath via vanishing quantum coherence: III. Master equation derivation
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A master equation for a single mode radiation field interacting with a coherently prepared beam of atoms is derived. The atomic quantum coherence is built up via interaction with an external microwave field. We discuss various applications of the derived master equation, including lasing without population inversion and the possibility of exceeding the Carnot efficiency of a quantum heat engine fueled by a beam of phase coherent atoms. The main motivation for this paper is to settle subtle technical issues involving the derivation of the master equation.