Abnormal properties of spontaneous emission in a Kerr nonlinear blackbody

We reexamine the atomic spontaneous decay in a Kerr nonlinear blackbody by contrast with our previous paper [M. Yin, Z. Cheng, Phys. Rev. A 78 (2008) 063829]. In the process of deriving the atomic decay rate, we use the temperature-dependent velocity of photons to take the full nonlinearity of a KNB into account. It is found that below a transition temperature TcTc, the atomic spontaneous emission in a KNB might be enhanced or inhibited compared with that in a normal blackbody whose interior is filled with a nonabsorbing linear medium. The physical origin of the enhancement and inhibition of spontaneous emission is also discussed.