A master-equation approach to the semiconductor laser is derived. Projection-operator techniques are used to eliminate the fast motion occurring in the system, leading to a description of the system in terms of numbers of electrons and holes, with a fully quantum-mechanical description of the field. The output light statistics are calculated and compared with that appearing elsewhere [Y. Yamamoto and S. Machida, Phys. Rev. A 35, 5114 (1987)].

• Received 9 December 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.51.4982