Recent technological advances have enabled quantum light to reach the strong-field regime, opening the door to nonlinear quantum light-matter interactions, yet its role in air lasing remains unexplored. Here, we explore its potential impact on air lasing by studying the population inversion between the $B^2{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_u^{+}(v^{″}=0)$ and $X^2{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_g^{+}(v=0,1)$ states of ${\mathrm{N}}_2^{+}$ across pump wavelengths from 300 to 1200 nm using full quantum density matrix simulations. Our results show that quantum light generates a markedly stronger population inversion than coherent (classical) light at pump wavelengths near 380 and 1000 nm under the pump conditions of an intensity of $I=0.4\times {10}^{14}$ ${\text{W/cm}}^2$ and a pulse duration of 30 fs. This enhancement arises from the broader amplitude fluctuations of quantum light, which contain more high-field components and thereby induce stronger electronic-state coupling. Moreover, population inversion induced by quantum light exhibits a more pronounced wavelength dependence than that driven by coherent light, owing to the selective enhancement of distinct electronic-state coupling at different pump wavelengths. By incorporating molecular rotation, we further find that, for pump intensities ranging from $I=0.4\times {10}^{14}$ to $1.2\times {10}^{14}$ ${\text{W/cm}}^2$, BSV light produces population inversion over a broader range of rotational quantum numbers than coherent light. In this work, we reveal the unique capability of quantum light to modulate the population dynamics of air lasing, offering a pathway to produce stronger and broader lasing.

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• Light-matter interaction
• Quantum optics