  We investigate the time evolution of atomic population in a two-level atom
driven by a monochromatic radiation field, taking spontaneous emission into
account. The Rabi oscillation exhibits amplitude damping in time caused by
spontaneous emission. We show that the semiclassical master equation leads in
general to an overestimation of the damping rate and that a correct
quantitative description of the damped Rabi oscillation can thus be obtained
only with a full quantum mechanical theory.
