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:2510.11376 · Physical Review Letters

Disorder-Induced Strongly Correlated Photons in Waveguide QED

Guoqing Tian, Lili Zheng, Zhiming Zhan, Franco Nori, Xin‐You Lü

Published Sep 9, 2025• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Strongly correlated photons play a crucial role in modern quantum technologies. Here, we investigate the probability of generating strongly correlated photons in a chain of N qubits coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide. We found that disorder in the transition frequencies can induce photon antibunching and especially nearly perfect photon blockade events in the transmission and reflection outputs. As a comparison, in ordered chains, strongly correlated photons cannot be generated in the transmission output, and only weakly antibunched photons are found in the reflection output. The occurrence of nearly perfect photon blockade events stems from the disorder-induced nearly completely destructive interference of photon scattering paths. Our Letter highlights the impact of disorder on photon correlation generation and suggests that disorder can enhance the potential for achieving strongly correlated photons.

DOI
10.1103/mldt-d59t

Related papers

Strongly correlated photons generated by coupling a three- or four-level system to a waveguide

Huaixiu Zheng, Daniel J. Gauthier, Harold U. Baranger

We study the generation of strongly correlated photons by coupling an atom to photonic quantum fields in a one-dimensional waveguide. Specifically, we consider a three-level or four-level system for the atom. Photon-photon bound states emerge as a manifestation of the strong photon-photon correlation mediated by the atom. Effective repulsive or attractive interaction between photons can be produced, causing either suppressed multiphoton transmission (photon blockade) or enhanced multiphoton transmission (photon-induced tunneling). As a result, nonclassical light sources can be generated on demand by sending coherent states into the proposed system. We calculate the second-order correlation function of the transmitted field and observe bunching and antibunching caused by the bound states. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the proposed system can produce photon pairs with a high degree of spectral entanglement, which have a large capacity for carrying information and are important for large-alphabet quantum communication.

arXiv:1202.2776•Physical Review A•Apr 19, 2012•101 citations

Strongly Interacting Photons in 2D Waveguide QED

Matija Tečer, Marco Fedele Di Liberto, Pietro Silvi +3 more

One-dimensional confinement in waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) plays a crucial role to enhance light-matter interactions and to induce a strong quantum nonlinear optical response. In two or higher-dimensional settings, this response is reduced since photons can be emitted within a larger phase space, opening the question whether strong photon-photon interaction can be still achieved. In this study, we positively answer this question for the case of a 2D square array of atoms coupled to the light confined into a two-dimensional waveguide. More specifically, we demonstrate the occurrence of long-lived two-photon repulsive and bound states with genuine 2D features. Furthermore, we observe signatures of these effects also in free-space atomic arrays in the form of weakly subradiant in-band scattering resonances. Our findings provide a paradigmatic signature of the presence of strong photon-photon interactions in 2D waveguide QED.

arXiv:2312.07668•Physical Review Letters•Apr 15, 2024•15 citations

Quantum interference and complex photon statistics in waveguide QED

Xin H. H. Zhang, Harold U. Baranger

We obtain photon statistics by using a quantum jump approach tailored to a system in which one or two qubits are coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide. Photons confined in the waveguide have strong interference effects, which are shown to play a vital role in quantum jumps and photon statistics. For a single qubit, for instance, the bunching of transmitted photons is heralded by a jump that increases the qubit population. We show that the distribution and correlations of waiting times offer a clearer and more precise characterization of photon bunching and antibunching. Further, the waiting times can be used to characterize complex correlations of photons which are hidden in ${g}^{(2)}(\ensuremath{\tau})$, such as a mixture of bunching and antibunching.

arXiv:1710.01543•Physical Review A•Feb 7, 2018•24 citations

Strongly Correlated States of Light and Repulsive Photons in Chiral Chains of Three-Level Quantum Emitters

Ole A. Iversen, Thomas Pohl

We study the correlated transport of photons through a chain of three-level emitters that are coupled chirally to a photonic mode of a waveguide. It is found that this system can transfer a weak classical input into a strongly correlated state of light in a unitary manner. Our analysis reveals two-photon scattering eigenstates, that are akin to Fano resonances or shape resonances in particle collisions and facilitate the emergence of antibunched light with long-range correlations upon crossing a critical length of the chain. By operating close to conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency of the three-level medium, a high degree of antibunching and photon transmission can be maintained in the presence of moderate losses. These features suggest a promising mechanism for single-photon generation and may open the door to exploring correlated quantum many-body states of light with repulsively interacting photons.

arXiv:2006.03408•Physical Review Letters•Feb 26, 2021•48 citations

Chiral Interaction Induced Near-Perfect Photon Blockade

Zhi-Guang Lu, Ying Nian Wu, Xin‐You Lü

Based on the scattering matrix method, we theoretically demonstrate that the chiral interaction can induce the almost perfect photon blockade (PB) in the waveguide-cavity quantum electrodynamics system. The mechanism relies on the multiphoton path's interference within the waveguide, which is clearly shown by the analytic parameter regime for g^{(2)}(0)≈0. When N cavities are introduced into the system, there are N optimal parameter points accordingly for the almost perfect PB, where the required lowest chirality decreases exponentially with increasing N, and these optimal points are robust against disorder in the system's frequencies. Under resonant driving and fixed chirality conditions, the output light depends solely on the parity of N (N≥2), with a coherent state emerging for even numbers of cavities and a single-photon state for odd numbers. Our Letter offers an alternative route for achieving almost perfect PB effects with high single-photon transmission by employing the chirality of system, with potential application in the on-chip single-photon source with integrability.

arXiv:2402.09000•Physical Review Letters•Jan 6, 2025•33 citations

Nonreciprocal two-photon transmission and statistics in a chiral waveguide QED system

Lei Wang, Zhen Yi, Lihui Sun +1 more

We study the nonreciprocal properties of transmitted photons in a chiral waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) system, including single- and two-photon transmissions and second-order correlations. For the single-photon transmission, the nonreciprocity is induced by the effects of chiral coupling and atomic dissipation in the weak coupling region. It vanishes in the strong coupling regime when the effect of atomic dissipation becomes ignorable. In the case of two-photon transmission, there exist two ways of going through the emitter: independently as plane waves and formation of bound state. Besides the nonreciprocal behavior of plane waves, the bound state that differs in two directions also alters transmission probabilities. In addition, the second-order correlation of transmitted photons depends on the interference between plane wave and bound state. The destructive interference leads to the strong antibunching in the weak coupling region, while the effective formation of bound state leads to the strong bunching in the intermediate coupling region. However, the negligible interactions for left-propagating photons hardly change the statistics of the input coherent state.

Chinese Physics B•Dec 1, 2021•8 citations
Strongly correlated photons play a crucial role in modern quantum technologies. Here, we investigate the probability of generating strongly correlated photons in a chain of N qubits coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide. We found that disorder in the transition frequencies can induce photon antibunching and especially nearly perfect photon blockade events in the transmission and reflection outputs. As a comparison, in ordered chains, strongly correlated photons cannot be generated in the transmission output, and only weakly antibunched photons are found in the reflection output. The occurrence of nearly perfect photon blockade events stems from the disorder-induced nearly completely destructive interference of photon scattering paths. Our Letter highlights the impact of disorder on photon correlation generation and suggests that disorder can enhance the potential for achieving strongly correlated photons.
We study the generation of strongly correlated photons by coupling an atom to photonic quantum fields in a one-dimensional waveguide. Specifically, we consider a three-level or four-level system for the atom. Photon-photon bound states emerge as a manifestation of the strong photon-photon correlation mediated by the atom. Effective repulsive or attractive interaction between photons can be produced, causing either suppressed multiphoton transmission (photon blockade) or enhanced multiphoton transmission (photon-induced tunneling). As a result, nonclassical light sources can be generated on demand by sending coherent states into the proposed system. We calculate the second-order correlation function of the transmitted field and observe bunching and antibunching caused by the bound states. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the proposed system can produce photon pairs with a high degree of spectral entanglement, which have a large capacity for carrying information and are important for large-alphabet quantum communication.
One-dimensional confinement in waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) plays a crucial role to enhance light-matter interactions and to induce a strong quantum nonlinear optical response. In two or higher-dimensional settings, this response is reduced since photons can be emitted within a larger phase space, opening the question whether strong photon-photon interaction can be still achieved. In this study, we positively answer this question for the case of a 2D square array of atoms coupled to the light confined into a two-dimensional waveguide. More specifically, we demonstrate the occurrence of long-lived two-photon repulsive and bound states with genuine 2D features. Furthermore, we observe signatures of these effects also in free-space atomic arrays in the form of weakly subradiant in-band scattering resonances. Our findings provide a paradigmatic signature of the presence of strong photon-photon interactions in 2D waveguide QED.
We obtain photon statistics by using a quantum jump approach tailored to a system in which one or two qubits are coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide. Photons confined in the waveguide have strong interference effects, which are shown to play a vital role in quantum jumps and photon statistics. For a single qubit, for instance, the bunching of transmitted photons is heralded by a jump that increases the qubit population. We show that the distribution and correlations of waiting times offer a clearer and more precise characterization of photon bunching and antibunching. Further, the waiting times can be used to characterize complex correlations of photons which are hidden in ${g}^{(2)}(\ensuremath{\tau})$, such as a mixture of bunching and antibunching.
We study the correlated transport of photons through a chain of three-level emitters that are coupled chirally to a photonic mode of a waveguide. It is found that this system can transfer a weak classical input into a strongly correlated state of light in a unitary manner. Our analysis reveals two-photon scattering eigenstates, that are akin to Fano resonances or shape resonances in particle collisions and facilitate the emergence of antibunched light with long-range correlations upon crossing a critical length of the chain. By operating close to conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency of the three-level medium, a high degree of antibunching and photon transmission can be maintained in the presence of moderate losses. These features suggest a promising mechanism for single-photon generation and may open the door to exploring correlated quantum many-body states of light with repulsively interacting photons.
Based on the scattering matrix method, we theoretically demonstrate that the chiral interaction can induce the almost perfect photon blockade (PB) in the waveguide-cavity quantum electrodynamics system. The mechanism relies on the multiphoton path's interference within the waveguide, which is clearly shown by the analytic parameter regime for g^{(2)}(0)≈0. When N cavities are introduced into the system, there are N optimal parameter points accordingly for the almost perfect PB, where the required lowest chirality decreases exponentially with increasing N, and these optimal points are robust against disorder in the system's frequencies. Under resonant driving and fixed chirality conditions, the output light depends solely on the parity of N (N≥2), with a coherent state emerging for even numbers of cavities and a single-photon state for odd numbers. Our Letter offers an alternative route for achieving almost perfect PB effects with high single-photon transmission by employing the chirality of system, with potential application in the on-chip single-photon source with integrability.
We study the nonreciprocal properties of transmitted photons in a chiral waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) system, including single- and two-photon transmissions and second-order correlations. For the single-photon transmission, the nonreciprocity is induced by the effects of chiral coupling and atomic dissipation in the weak coupling region. It vanishes in the strong coupling regime when the effect of atomic dissipation becomes ignorable. In the case of two-photon transmission, there exist two ways of going through the emitter: independently as plane waves and formation of bound state. Besides the nonreciprocal behavior of plane waves, the bound state that differs in two directions also alters transmission probabilities. In addition, the second-order correlation of transmitted photons depends on the interference between plane wave and bound state. The destructive interference leads to the strong antibunching in the weak coupling region, while the effective formation of bound state leads to the strong bunching in the intermediate coupling region. However, the negligible interactions for left-propagating photons hardly change the statistics of the input coherent state.