Full-Wave Green's-Function Modeling of Collective Single-Photon Emission in Non-Markovian Open-System QED with Finite-Bandwidth Compensation of Dispersive Interactions
Hyunwoo Choi, Jisang Seo, Junwoo Gim, Bowoo Jang, Weng C. Chew, Dong-Yeop Na
quant-phphysics.comp-phSubmitted Jun 30, 2026• Announced Jul 1, 2026• 0 citations
This work presents a full-wave Green's function framework for modeling collective and coherent single-photon emission from multiple quantum emitters embedded in complex electromagnetic structures. Starting from a transverse modal completeness relation of modified Langevin noise formalism, we derive a closed set of coupled equations for population dynamics and frequency-resolved field amplitudes in the single-excitation regime. Since the electromagnetic reservoir is not traced out at the level of the dynamical amplitudes, the emitted single-photon dynamics can be modeled within the same closed set of equations without Markovian approximation in open and dissipative environments. We demonstrate that finite-bandwidth truncation of the spectral density leads to systematic deviations in coherent dispersive interactions, even when dissipative rates appear converged. To restore causal consistency, we introduce a counter-term compensation scheme that restores the missing dispersive contributions without modifying the retained non-Markovian memory kernel. To validate the scheme and demonstrate the practicality of the proposed framework, we present numerical examples ranging from benchmark configurations to a three-dimensional dispersive ring-resonator structure via finite element method. These capabilities provide a practical route for rigorously incorporating full-wave electromagnetic simulations into non-Markovian multi-emitter quantum electrodynamics, enabling predictive modeling of collective emission, coherent energy exchange, and single-photon radiation in realistic open structures.
This work presents a full-wave Green's function framework for modeling collective and coherent single-photon emission from multiple quantum emitters embedded in complex electromagnetic structures. Starting from a transverse modal completeness relation of modified Langevin noise formalism, we derive a closed set of coupled equations for population dynamics and frequency-resolved field amplitudes in the single-excitation regime. Since the electromagnetic reservoir is not traced out at the level of the dynamical amplitudes, the emitted single-photon dynamics can be modeled within the same closed set of equations without Markovian approximation in open and dissipative environments. We demonstrate that finite-bandwidth truncation of the spectral density leads to systematic deviations in coherent dispersive interactions, even when dissipative rates appear converged. To restore causal consistency, we introduce a counter-term compensation scheme that restores the missing dispersive contributions without modifying the retained non-Markovian memory kernel. To validate the scheme and demonstrate the practicality of the proposed framework, we present numerical examples ranging from benchmark configurations to a three-dimensional dispersive ring-resonator structure via finite element method. These capabilities provide a practical route for rigorously incorporating full-wave electromagnetic simulations into non-Markovian multi-emitter quantum electrodynamics, enabling predictive modeling of collective emission, coherent energy exchange, and single-photon radiation in realistic open structures.
In this work, we present a numerical framework for modeling single photon emission from a two level system in open and dissipative systems beyond the Markovian approximation. The method can be readily integrated into standard computational electromagnetic (CEM) solvers such as finite difference time domain (FDTD) and finite element method (FEM). We numerically verify the completeness of boundary and medium assisted modes in the modified Langevin noise formalism by reconstructing the imaginary part of the dyadic Greens function through modal expansion in three dimensions. This reconstruction enables a first principles description of atom field interaction via the multi mode Jaynes Cummings model in open and dissipative environments. Within the single excitation manifold, we show that the memory kernel of a two level system is determined by the imaginary part of the Greens function, implying that radiative modes alone govern the relevant dynamics. The proposed framework thus provides a Greens function based approach for describing atomic population and single photon dynamics, directly compatible with Maxwell solvers. We then present concrete strategies for implementing our method in both FDTD and FEM frameworks, demonstrating its practical applicability. We further verify numerical results for a lossy Lorentz Drude type mirror, including both the case of a TLS near a finite sized metallic mirror and that of a TLS centered in a Fabry Perot cavity. This work establishes a rigorous foundation for incorporating quantum emitter dynamics into computational electromagnetics, thereby extending classical solvers toward quantum light matter interactions.
While non-Markovian dynamics have been extensively studied in the single-excitation limit to predict non-trivial phenomena, this regime remains an idealization. Moving beyond it is essential, as optical nonlinearities and phase-error accumulation in multi-photon processes render the Markovian approximation fragile. In this work, we present a Green's function-based framework for modeling non-Markovian multi-emitter quantum electrodynamics within the two-excitation manifold. The modified Langevin noise (M-LN) formalism is employed for first-principles treatment of dissipative environments, while the emitter-centered mode (ECM) framework ensures computational tractability. Unlike conventional approaches that integrate out the reservoir, we construct a non-Markovian hierarchy of coupled differential equations by explicitly retaining photonic amplitudes. Within the two-excitation hierarchy, the formulation preserves total probability and retains phase information necessary to capture multi-photon interference. As numerical demonstrations, we investigate non-Markovian atom-field interactions in structured semi-infinite waveguide environments. We first consider a homogeneous waveguide as a baseline, observing enhanced Bell-state fidelity in selected configurations. Next, we examine collective decay of symmetric Dicke states in a waveguide with an embedded lossy dielectric slab, revealing selective stabilization and delayed excitation transfer induced by the structured reservoir. Finally, we analyze entanglement dynamics in the same setting, highlighting entanglement sudden birth and oscillatory revivals. In principle, the framework applies to arbitrary electromagnetic environments for which the dyadic Green's function can be obtained numerically, providing a versatile tool for investigating complex non-Markovian multi-photon phenomena beyond the single-excitation limit.
Recent advances are enabling quantum emitters to interact with photonic crystals, whose electromagnetic modes exhibit complex dispersion relations, spatial mode structure, and polarization textures. However, modeling light-matter behavior in these systems faces a persistent trade-off: electromagnetic approaches based on Maxwell-equation solvers provide realistic vectorial descriptions but are difficult to integrate with quantum many-body and non-perturbative methods, whereas simplified quantum-optical lattice models are tractable but typically rely on scalar and spatially independent light-matter couplings that miss essential features of these structured photonic environments. Here, we introduce a constructive framework to derive quantum-optical lattice descriptions that overcome this trade-off. Combining symmetry-constrained tight-binding constructions with numerically computed photonic band structures and field profiles, our method yields minimal, symmetry-enforced lattice Hamiltonians that reproduce the target photonic dispersion while retaining the mode-resolved (position- and polarization-dependent) structure of the light-matter coupling. We show that these models recover Green's-function-based emitter dynamics in the perturbative regime, while providing access to non-perturbative quantum dynamical simulations beyond emitter-only descriptions. As a proof of principle, we apply the framework to a two-dimensional photonic crystal and show that it captures polarization-dependent directional emission inaccessible to scalar models, while enabling the analysis of non-Markovian light-matter dynamics and entanglement. Our results provide a practical bridge between classical electromagnetic simulation tools and quantum-optical many-body and non-Markovian modeling in photonic crystal settings.
We present a numerical framework that integrates a modified Langevin noise formalism into multimode Jaynes- and Tavis-Cummings models for first-principles, non-Markovian analysis of atom-field interactions in dissipative electromagnetic environments under weak coupling. This formalism enables the quantization of electric field operators in terms of boundary- and medium-assisted modes with real-valued eigenfrequencies, accounting for both radiative and absorptive losses. To efficiently handle the continuum nature of the boundary- and medium-assisted mode spectrum, we apply adaptive frequency refinement and mode-space coarse-graining based on finite-element simulations to obtain a tractable discrete set of field modes. These modes are then used to construct matrix representations of the Schr\"odinger equation, enabling direct computation of atomic observables and field quantities---such as single-photon amplitudes and higher-order correlation functions---beyond the Markovian approximation. Importantly, this framework does not rely on any phenomenologically designed memory kernel. Instead, the spectrum of boundary- and medium-assisted modes interacting with atoms inherently and rigorously captures memory effects arising from the open and dissipative electromagnetic environment. We present four numerical examples to validate the proposed framework and demonstrate its ability to model non-Markovian atomic dynamics in open and dissipative electromagnetic environments: (i) a two-level system near the surface of a perfect electric conductor, (ii) dissipative cavity quantum electrodynamics for a single two-level system, (iii) super- and subradiance in two-level system arrays, and (iv) entanglement sudden death between two two-level systems. This framework provides a versatile simulation tool for the design of quantum photonic devices, including nitrogen-vacancy center single-photon sources coupled to plasmonic structures, entangled photon-pair generation near lossy media, and decoherence modeling of solid-state quantum memories based on rare-earth ions and color centers. It is particularly well suited to dissipative quantum electrodynamics in photonic integrated circuits, where accurate modeling of scattering and diffraction is essential.
We develop a quantum input-output theory for open photonic systems based on macroscopic quantum electrodynamics using the first-order electromagnetic Green's function. Quantum fields enter and leave the photonic system through waveguide ports, while the electromagnetic Green's function propagates the fields through the arbitrary interior of the photonic system, which may be dispersive and absorbing. The resulting relation contains a port-to-port scattering matrix and a Langevin-noise contribution from material absorption that together preserve the bosonic output commutation relations. For embedded emitters, the low-saturation and single-excitation scattering response is determined by Green's functions connecting the ports and emitters while retaining the non-Markovianity of the photonic environment. Using finite-difference time-domain simulation, we calculate the emitter-modified transmission for a nanophotonic cavity and inverse-designed coupler, providing a direct route from computed electromagnetic response to a quantum input-output model.
We present a Heisenberg-Langevin formalism to study the effective dynamics of a superconducting qubit coupled to an open multimode resonator, without resorting to the rotating wave, two level, Born or Markov approximations. Our effective equations are derived by eliminating resonator degrees of freedom while encoding their effect in the Green's function of the electromagnetic background. We account for the openness of the resonator exactly by employing a spectral representation for the Green's function in terms of a set of non-Hermitian modes. A well-behaved time domain perturbation theory is derived to systematically account for the nonlinearity of weakly nonlinear qubits like transmon. We apply this method to the problem of spontaneous emission, capturing accurately the non-Markovian features of the qubit dynamics, valid for any qubit-resonator coupling strength. Any discrete-level quantum system coupled to the electromagnetic continuum is subject to radiative decay and renormalization of its energy levels. When inside a cavity, these quantities can be strongly modified with respect to vacuum. Generally, this modification can be captured by including only the closest resonant cavity mode. In circuit-QED architecture, with substantial coupling strengths, it is however found that such rates are strongly influenced by far off-resonant modes. A multimode calculation over the infinite set of cavity modes leads to divergences unless an artificial cutoff is imposed. Previous studies have not pointed out what the source of this divergence is. We show that unless the effect of A2 is accounted for up to all orders exactly, any multimode calculations of circuit-QED quantities is bound to diverge. Subsequently, we present the calculation of finite radiative corrections to qubit properties that is free of an artificially introduced high frequency cut-off.