Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2105.05959 · Nature Communications

Fano interference in quantum resonances from angle-resolved elastic scattering

Prerna Paliwal, Alexander Blech, Christiane P. Koch, Edvardas Narevicius

Published Dec 13, 2021• 11 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Asymmetric spectral line shapes are a hallmark of interference of a quasi-bound state with a continuum of states. Such line shapes are well known for multichannel systems, for example, in photoionization or Feshbach resonances in molecular scattering. On the other hand, in resonant single channel scattering, the signature of such interference may disappear due to the orthogonality of partial waves. Here, we show that probing the angular dependence of the cross section allows us to unveil asymmetric Fano profiles also in a single channel shape resonance. We observe a shift in the peak of the resonance profile in the elastic collisions between metastable helium and deuterium molecules with detection angle, in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions from full quantum scattering calculations. Using a model description for the partial wave interference, we can disentangle the resonant and background contributions and extract the relative phase responsible for the characteristic Fano-like profiles from our experimental measurements.

DOI
10.1038/s41467-021-27556-2

Related papers

Fano effect in an ultracold atom-molecule coupled system

Yuqing Li, Guosheng Feng, Jizhou Wu +5 more

The Fano resonance, with a unique asymmetric line shape, is a well-known manifestation of quantum interference with numerous promising applications for light-harvesting devices. Here we report an experimental observation of the Fano effect in an ultracold atom-molecule coupled system realized by photoassociation near a magnetically tunable $d$-wave Feshbach resonance. Our result shows that, compared to ubiquitous single-peak Fano-type line shapes, the coupled Fano resonances feature a two-peak profile. We develop a theory of coupled Fano resonances which agrees very well with the experimental results. This work may open a new perspective for tuning ultracold collisional interaction using the Fano resonance and studying bound states in continuum.

arXiv:1703.04094•Physical Review A•Feb 8, 2019•7 citations

Fano-Liouville Spectral Signatures in Open Quantum Systems

Daniel Finkelstein‐Shapiro, Inés Urdaneta, Mónica Calatayud +3 more

The scattering amplitude from a set of discrete states coupled to a continuum became known as the Fano profile, characteristic for its asymmetric line shape and originally investigated in the context of photoionization. The generality of the model and the proliferation of engineered nanostructures with confined states gives immense success to the Fano line shape, which is invoked whenever an asymmetric line shape is encountered. However, many of these systems do not conform to the initial model worked out by Fano in that (i) they are subject to dissipative processes and (ii) the observables are not entirely analogous to the ones measured in the original photoionization experiments. In this Letter, we work out the full optical response of a Fano model with dissipation. We find that the exact result for the excited population, Raman, Rayleigh, and fluorescence emission is a modified Fano profile where the typical line shape has an additional Lorentzian contribution. Expressions to extract model parameters from a set of relevant observables are given.

arXiv:1503.03051•Physical Review Letters•Sep 10, 2015•18 citations

Coupled-square-well model and Fano-phase correspondence

Bin Yan, Chris H. Greene

This paper investigates the Fano-Feshbach resonance with a two-channel coupled-square-well model in both the frequency and time domains. This system is shown to exhibit Fano line-shape profiles in the energy absorption spectrum. The associated time-dependent transition moment response has a phase shift that has recently been understood to be related to the Fano line-shape asymmetric $q$ parameter by $\ensuremath{\varphi}=2arg(q\ensuremath{-}i)$. The present study demonstrates that the phase-$q$ correspondence is general for any Fano resonance in the weak-coupling regime, independent of the transition mechanism.

arXiv:1701.02640•Physical Review A•Mar 29, 2017•6 citations

Lorentz Meets Fano in Spectral Line Shapes: A Universal Phase and Its Laser Control

Christian Ott, Andreas Kaldun, Philipp Raith +6 more

Symmetric Lorentzian and asymmetric Fano line shapes are fundamental spectroscopic signatures that quantify the structural and dynamical properties of nuclei, atoms, molecules, and solids. This study introduces a universal temporal-phase formalism, mapping the Fano asymmetry parameter q to a phase φ of the time-dependent dipole response function. The formalism is confirmed experimentally by laser-transforming Fano absorption lines of autoionizing helium into Lorentzian lines after attosecond-pulsed excitation. We also demonstrate the inverse, the transformation of a naturally Lorentzian line into a Fano profile. A further application of this formalism uses quantum-phase control to amplify extreme-ultraviolet light resonantly interacting with He atoms. The quantum phase of excited states and its response to interactions can thus be extracted from line-shape analysis, with applications in many branches of spectroscopy.

arXiv:1301.1454•Science•May 9, 2013•517 citations

Dual Fano and Lorentzian line profile properties of autoionizing states

B. Tu, Jun Xiao, Ke Yao +15 more

Photon absorption spectroscopy is a powerful tool for uncovering the structure of atoms, molecules, and solids. Symmetric Lorentzian and asymmetric Fano line shapes are fundamental spectroscopic signatures related to the structural and dynamical properties. Recently, Ott et al. [Science 340, 716 (2013)] successfully transferred Fano profile into Lorentzian line shape using an intense infrared laser, after excitation of autoionizing states in helium by attosecond XUV pulse. This is a very important step forward in quantum phase control. However, here we show experimentally that an autoionizing state can have both Fano and Lorentzian behavior naturally, depending on the process involved. This study utilized the inverse process of photon absorption ionization, i.e., electron ion recombination with photon emission, making sure the resonant autoionizing state is not modified or decorated by the laser fields. Our result implies that excitation of the state through different paths---for example, one photon versus multiphoton excitation, or even one step versus multistep excitation---can lead to different Fano profiles for the same resonant state. We also report an experimental determination of the energy shifts in the recombination photon-intensity peaks due to the interference between the resonant and nonresonant processes.

Physical Review A•Jun 22, 2015•10 citations

Observation of Fano-suppression in scattering resonances of bosonic erbium atoms

L. Lafforgue, N. P. Mehta, J. J. A. Houwman +4 more

The collisional properties of lanthanides exhibit remarkable complexity due to their many valence electrons, leading to an extraordinarily dense Feshbach spectrum showing signs of quantum chaos. Here we explore the situation of bosonic spin mixtures of erbium, adding the additional spin degree of freedom to the problem. We detect several inter- and intra-spin scattering resonances, exhibiting a peculiar asymmetric shape with a pronounced loss minimum. By developing a simplified multi-channel model we are able to recreate this characteristic behavior and to trace its origin to destructive interference between multiple pathways as predicted by Fano. We additionally observe a series of Fano-Feshbach resonances across multiple spin channels connected to the same molecular state, again confirmed by our theory. Our work opens the door for a detailed investigation to study multi-spin strongly-coupled scattering phenomena.

arXiv:2512.17556•Dec 19, 2025•0 citations
Asymmetric spectral line shapes are a hallmark of interference of a quasi-bound state with a continuum of states. Such line shapes are well known for multichannel systems, for example, in photoionization or Feshbach resonances in molecular scattering. On the other hand, in resonant single channel scattering, the signature of such interference may disappear due to the orthogonality of partial waves. Here, we show that probing the angular dependence of the cross section allows us to unveil asymmetric Fano profiles also in a single channel shape resonance. We observe a shift in the peak of the resonance profile in the elastic collisions between metastable helium and deuterium molecules with detection angle, in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions from full quantum scattering calculations. Using a model description for the partial wave interference, we can disentangle the resonant and background contributions and extract the relative phase responsible for the characteristic Fano-like profiles from our experimental measurements.
The Fano resonance, with a unique asymmetric line shape, is a well-known manifestation of quantum interference with numerous promising applications for light-harvesting devices. Here we report an experimental observation of the Fano effect in an ultracold atom-molecule coupled system realized by photoassociation near a magnetically tunable ddd-wave Feshbach resonance. Our result shows that, compared to ubiquitous single-peak Fano-type line shapes, the coupled Fano resonances feature a two-peak profile. We develop a theory of coupled Fano resonances which agrees very well with the experimental results. This work may open a new perspective for tuning ultracold collisional interaction using the Fano resonance and studying bound states in continuum.
The scattering amplitude from a set of discrete states coupled to a continuum became known as the Fano profile, characteristic for its asymmetric line shape and originally investigated in the context of photoionization. The generality of the model and the proliferation of engineered nanostructures with confined states gives immense success to the Fano line shape, which is invoked whenever an asymmetric line shape is encountered. However, many of these systems do not conform to the initial model worked out by Fano in that (i) they are subject to dissipative processes and (ii) the observables are not entirely analogous to the ones measured in the original photoionization experiments. In this Letter, we work out the full optical response of a Fano model with dissipation. We find that the exact result for the excited population, Raman, Rayleigh, and fluorescence emission is a modified Fano profile where the typical line shape has an additional Lorentzian contribution. Expressions to extract model parameters from a set of relevant observables are given.
This paper investigates the Fano-Feshbach resonance with a two-channel coupled-square-well model in both the frequency and time domains. This system is shown to exhibit Fano line-shape profiles in the energy absorption spectrum. The associated time-dependent transition moment response has a phase shift that has recently been understood to be related to the Fano line-shape asymmetric qqq parameter by $\ensuremath{\varphi}=2arg(q\ensuremath{-}i)$. The present study demonstrates that the phase-qqq correspondence is general for any Fano resonance in the weak-coupling regime, independent of the transition mechanism.
Symmetric Lorentzian and asymmetric Fano line shapes are fundamental spectroscopic signatures that quantify the structural and dynamical properties of nuclei, atoms, molecules, and solids. This study introduces a universal temporal-phase formalism, mapping the Fano asymmetry parameter q to a phase φ of the time-dependent dipole response function. The formalism is confirmed experimentally by laser-transforming Fano absorption lines of autoionizing helium into Lorentzian lines after attosecond-pulsed excitation. We also demonstrate the inverse, the transformation of a naturally Lorentzian line into a Fano profile. A further application of this formalism uses quantum-phase control to amplify extreme-ultraviolet light resonantly interacting with He atoms. The quantum phase of excited states and its response to interactions can thus be extracted from line-shape analysis, with applications in many branches of spectroscopy.
Photon absorption spectroscopy is a powerful tool for uncovering the structure of atoms, molecules, and solids. Symmetric Lorentzian and asymmetric Fano line shapes are fundamental spectroscopic signatures related to the structural and dynamical properties. Recently, Ott et al. [Science 340, 716 (2013)] successfully transferred Fano profile into Lorentzian line shape using an intense infrared laser, after excitation of autoionizing states in helium by attosecond XUV pulse. This is a very important step forward in quantum phase control. However, here we show experimentally that an autoionizing state can have both Fano and Lorentzian behavior naturally, depending on the process involved. This study utilized the inverse process of photon absorption ionization, i.e., electron ion recombination with photon emission, making sure the resonant autoionizing state is not modified or decorated by the laser fields. Our result implies that excitation of the state through different paths---for example, one photon versus multiphoton excitation, or even one step versus multistep excitation---can lead to different Fano profiles for the same resonant state. We also report an experimental determination of the energy shifts in the recombination photon-intensity peaks due to the interference between the resonant and nonresonant processes.
The collisional properties of lanthanides exhibit remarkable complexity due to their many valence electrons, leading to an extraordinarily dense Feshbach spectrum showing signs of quantum chaos. Here we explore the situation of bosonic spin mixtures of erbium, adding the additional spin degree of freedom to the problem. We detect several inter- and intra-spin scattering resonances, exhibiting a peculiar asymmetric shape with a pronounced loss minimum. By developing a simplified multi-channel model we are able to recreate this characteristic behavior and to trace its origin to destructive interference between multiple pathways as predicted by Fano. We additionally observe a series of Fano-Feshbach resonances across multiple spin channels connected to the same molecular state, again confirmed by our theory. Our work opens the door for a detailed investigation to study multi-spin strongly-coupled scattering phenomena.