Generation and purification of maximally-entangled atomic states in optical cavities

We present a probabilistic scheme for generating and purifying maximally-entangled states of two atoms inside an optical cavity via no-photon detection in the output cavity mode, where ideal detectors may not be required. The intermediate mixed states can be continuously "filtered" so as to violate Bell inequalities in a parametrized manner. The scheme relies on an additional strong-driving field that yields unusual dynamics in cavity QED experiments, simultaneously realizing Jaynes-Cummings and anti-Jaynes-Cummings interactions.