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arXiv:2212.01972 · Physical Review A

Effects of environment correlations on the onset of collective decay in waveguide QED

Alberto Del Angel, Pablo Solano, Pablo Barberis-Blostein

Published Jul 7, 2023• 3 citations
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Abstract

We analyze the dynamics of one and two two-level atoms interacting with the electromagnetic field in the vicinity of an optical nanofiber without making either the Born or the Markov approximations. We model the dielectric response of the nanofiber with a constant dielectric function and the Drude-Lorentz model, observing deviations from the standard super- and subradiant decays. We discuss the validity of approximating the speed of atom-atom communication to the group velocity of the guided field in the presence of nontrivial environment correlations. Our work presents a deeper understanding of the validity of commonly used approximations in recent waveguide QED platforms.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.108.013703

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We analyze the dynamics of one and two two-level atoms interacting with the electromagnetic field in the vicinity of an optical nanofiber without making either the Born or the Markov approximations. We model the dielectric response of the nanofiber with a constant dielectric function and the Drude-Lorentz model, observing deviations from the standard super- and subradiant decays. We discuss the validity of approximating the speed of atom-atom communication to the group velocity of the guided field in the presence of nontrivial environment correlations. Our work presents a deeper understanding of the validity of commonly used approximations in recent waveguide QED platforms.
We analyze the dynamics of a set of two-level atoms coupled to the electromagnetic environment within a waveguide. This problem is often tackled by assuming a weak coupling between the atoms and the environment as well as the associated Markov approximation. We show that the accuracy of such an approximation may be more limited than in the single-atom case and may also be strongly determined by the presence of collective effects produced by atom-atom interactions. To this aim, we solve the full problem with exact diagonalization and also the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method, and we compare the result to that obtained within a weak-coupling master equation and with the Dicke approximation. Finally, we study the dynamics of the entanglement within the system when considering several interatomic distances and atomic frequencies.
We study the collective decay of two-level emitters coupled to a nonlinear waveguide, for example, a nanophotonic lattice or a superconducting resonator array with strong photon-photon interactions. Under these conditions, a new decay channel into bound photon pairs emerges, through which spatial correlations between emitters are established by regular interference as well as interactions between the photons. We derive an effective Markovian theory to model the resulting decay dynamics of an arbitrary distribution of emitters and identify collective effects beyond the usual phenomena of super- and subradiance. Specifically, in the limit of many close-by emitters, we find that the system undergoes a supercorrelated decay process where all the emitters are either in the excited state or in the ground state but not in any of the intermediate states. The predicted effects can be probed in state-of-the-art waveguide QED experiments and provide a striking example of how the dynamics of open quantum systems can be modified by many-body effects in a nonharmonic environment.
We experimentally and theoretically investigate collective radiative effects in an ensemble of cold atoms coupled to a single-mode optical nanofiber. Our analysis unveils the microscopic dynamics of the system, showing that collective interactions between the atoms and a single guided photon gradually build up along the atomic array in the direction of propagation of light. These results are supported by time-resolved measurements of the light transmitted and reflected by the ensemble after excitation via nanofiber-guided laser pulses, whose rise and fall times are shorter than the atomic lifetime. Superradiant decays more than 1 order of magnitude faster than the single-atom free-space decay rate are observed for emission in the forward-propagating guided mode, while at the same time, no speed-up of the decay rate is measured in the backward direction. In addition, position-resolved measurements of the light that is transmitted past the atoms are performed by inserting the nanofiber-coupled atomic array in a 45-m-long fiber ring resonator, which allow us to experimentally reveal the progressive growth of the collective response of the atomic ensemble. Our results highlight the unique opportunities offered by nanophotonic cold atom systems for the experimental investigation of collective light-matter interaction.
Quantum systems are invariably coupled to a surrounding environment. A common theoretical method to simplify the problem is to trace over the environment under a Markov approximation, which assumes that the environment holds no memory over the timescales that the system evolves under. In interacting many-body systems, it is often not trivial to extract which of the multiple collective timescales are relevant. We consider a time-delayed waveguide QED setup with a single excitation. By fixing the maximum propagation time and increasing the number of emitters, we show that, even for small delay times, collective effects are sufficient to cause non-Markovianity. The impact of memory is intrinsically state-dependent. For superradiant states, the relevant system timescale is the superradiant lifetime while the relevant bath timescale is the end-to-end delay time. For subradiant states, both timescales depend on the structure of the specific state. Our results demonstrate the importance of prudently making Markov approximations in quantum many-body systems, and highlight potential pitfalls to avoid in scaling up quantum devices to large system sizes.
The study of atom-light interaction is a key element of quantum optics and a central part of atomic physics. Systems composed of atoms interacting with each other through the electromagnetic field can be used for studies from fundamental research to practical applications. Experimental realizations of these systems benefit from three distinct attributes: large atom-light coupling, trapping and control of atomic ensembles, and engineering and manipulation of the electromagnetic field. Optical waveguides provide a platform that achieves these three goals. In particular, optical nanofibers are an excellent candidate. They produce a high confinement of the electromagnetic field that improves atom-light coupling, guiding the field that mediates the interactions between atoms, while allowing trapping of the atoms close to it. This thesis describes the uses of an optical nanofiber for quantum optics experiments, demonstrating its possibilities for enabling special atom-light interactions. We trap atoms near the optical nanofiber surface, and characterize the trap in a non-destructive manner. We show how the presence of the nanofiber modifies the fundamental atomic property of spontaneous emission, by altering the electromagnetic environment of the atom. Finally, we use the nanofiber to prepare collective states of atoms around it. These states can radiate faster or slower than a single atom (superradiance and subradiance). The observation of subradiance of a few atoms, a rather elusive effect, evidences nanofibers as a strong candidate for future quantum optics experiments. Moreover, we show how the guided field mediates interaction between atoms hundreds of wavelengths apart, creating macroscopically delocalized collective states.