Journal of Statistical Physics, VoL 53, Nos. 1/2, 1988, p. 417-438.
The statistical properties of the random events that correspond to the emission or the detection of a photon spontaneously emitted by a single atom are discussed. This statistics constitutes a full and nontrivial solution of the stochastic theory of random events. The results are most explicit for an atom with two relevant states. The formalism is also generalized to atomic models with nondegenerate states or with more than one driven transition.