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International Conference on Quantum Information

Quantum Phase Transitions with Photons and Polaritons

Michael J. Hartmann, Fernando G. S. L. Brandão, Martin Bodo Plenio

Published Jan 1, 2007• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

The experimental observation of quantum phenomena in strongly correlated many particle systems is difficult because of the short length- and timescales involved. Obtaining at the same time detailed control of individual constituents appears even more challenging and thus to date inhibits employing such systems as quantum information processing devices. Substantial progress to overcome these problems has been achieved with cold atoms in optical lattices, where a detailed control of collective properties is feasible. However it is very difficult to address and hence control or measure individual sites [1, 2]. In this work, we demonstrate that polaritons, combined atom and photon excitations, in an array of cavities can form a strongly interacting many body system [3]. This scheme has several advantages: First of all, individual particles can, by construction, be controlled and measured. In contrast to optical lattices, it therefore allows to create inhomogeneous systems where different phases may coexists in adjacent spatial regions. Finally not only an effective Bose- Hubbard Hamiltonian might be created but several different many body systems including spin chains.

DOI
10.1364/icqi.2007.iwc3

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The experimental observation of quantum phenomena in strongly correlated many particle systems is difficult because of the short length- and timescales involved. Obtaining at the same time detailed control of individual constituents appears even more challenging and thus to date inhibits employing such systems as quantum information processing devices. Substantial progress to overcome these problems has been achieved with cold atoms in optical lattices, where a detailed control of collective properties is feasible. However it is very difficult to address and hence control or measure individual sites [1, 2]. In this work, we demonstrate that polaritons, combined atom and photon excitations, in an array of cavities can form a strongly interacting many body system [3]. This scheme has several advantages: First of all, individual particles can, by construction, be controlled and measured. In contrast to optical lattices, it therefore allows to create inhomogeneous systems where different phases may coexists in adjacent spatial regions. Finally not only an effective Bose- Hubbard Hamiltonian might be created but several different many body systems including spin chains.
The enormous progress in controlling quantum optical and atomic systems has prompted ideas for new experimental realizations of strongly correlated many-body systems operating with light. These systems consist of photons confined in optical cavities, which interact strongly with atoms or atomiclike structures. Due to the interaction between the two particle species optical nonlinearities appear, leading to a quantum phase transition from Mott to superfluid phase. Here, we address the Tavis-Cummings lattice model, which describes light-matter systems containing multiple atomiclike structures in each cavity. In particular, we investigate the phase boundary delimiting Mott from superfluid phase and the elementary excitations of the two-dimensional Tavis-Cummings lattice model in dependence of the number of atomiclike structures per cavity. In order to obtain the results we employ the variational cluster approach. We evaluate spectral functions and densities of states of both particle species, which allows us to characterize the fundamental excitations of light-matter systems. These excitations are termed polaritons and are superpositions of photons and atomic excitations. We introduce polariton quasiparticles as appropriate linear combinations of both particle species and analyze the weights of their constituents. Our results demonstrate the dependence of the quantum phase transition and the elementary excitations on the number of atomiclike structures per cavity and provide thus valuable insight into the physics of light-matter systems.
Summary form only given. The studies of insulator to superfluid transitions in many body systems and their realization in optical lattices have opened great possibilities for simulating many body systems. It is thus interesting to explore which other systems permit such phases and simulations, especially if the problem of accessibility of the individual sites is not present. Particularly arresting will be to find such phases in a system of photons which, by being non-interacting, are unlikely candidates for the studies of many-body phenomena. Here we show that a Mott phase can arise in an array of coupled high Q electromagnetic cavities between which photons can hop, when each cavity is coupled to a single two level system (atom/quantum dot/Cooper pair). In this phase each atom-cavity system has the same integral number of polaritonic (atomic plus photonic) excitations. It occurs for resonant photonic and atomic frequencies when photon blockade provides an effective repulsion between the excitations in each atom-cavity system. Detuning the atomic and photonic frequencies suppresses this repulsion and induces a transition from the Mott phase to a photonic superfluid. We also show that for zero detuning, the system can simulate the dynamics of a spin chain with arbitrary number of excitations and can be used to implement quantum information processing tasks.
Recent progress in Cavity QED (CQED) has brought forth the possibility of wiring up individual CQED systems into lattices to investigate collective behavior and correlated phases of strongly coupled light and matter [1-9]. Such Lattice CQED systems operate on polaritonic quasi-particles that are hybrids of light and matter in a controllable proportion, combining long-range coherence of photons and strong interactions typically displayed by massive particles. In this talk, I will review recent work on proposed quantum simulation of Hubbard models with Lattice CQED systems, which are akin to the celebrated Bose-Hubbard model extensively studied with cold atomic gases in optical lattices and Josephson junction arrays. A crucial feature of Lattice CQED systems that I will focus on is their non-equilibrium nature. Unavoidable photon loss coupled with the ease of feeding in additional photons through continuous external driving renders such lattices open quantum systems. Under the influence of drive and dissipation, Lattice CQED systems typically display steady-state phases thereby providing a platform for realizing novel, non-equilibrium phases of light and matter that may be very dierent from those realized with condensed matter systems.
We show that a system of polaritons - combined atom and photon excitations - in an array of coupled cavities, under an experimental set-up usually considered in electromagnetically induced transparency, is described by the Bose-Hubbard model. This opens up the possibility of using this system as a quantum simulator, allowing for the observation of quantum phase transitions and for the measurement of local properties, such as single site observables. All the basic building blocks of the proposed setting have already been achieved experimentally, showing the feasibility of its realization in the near future.
The increasing level of experimental control over atomic and optical systems gained in recent years has paved the way for the exploration of new physical regimes in quantum optics and atomic physics, characterised by the appearance of quantum many-body phenomena, originally encountered only in condensed-matter physics, and the possibility of experimentally accessing them in a more controlled manner. In this review article we survey recent theoretical studies concerning the use of cavity quantum electrodynamics to create quantum many-body systems. Based on recent experimental progress in the fabrication of arrays of interacting micro-cavities and on their coupling to atomic-like structures in several different physical architectures, we review proposals on the realisation of paradigmatic many-body models in such systems, such as the Bose-Hubbard and the anisotropic Heisenberg models. Such arrays of coupled cavities offer interesting properties as simulators of quantum many-body physics, including the full addressability of individual sites and the accessibility of inhomogeneous models. © 2008 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
We propose a physical system where photons could exhibit strongly correlated effects. We demonstrate how a Mott-insulator phase of atom-photon excitations (polaritons) can arise in an array of individually addressable coupled electromagnetic cavities when each of these cavities is coupled resonantly to a single two-level system (atom, quantum dot, or Cooper pair). This Mott phase is characterized by the same integral number of net polaritonic excitations with photon blockade providing the required repulsion between the excitations in each site. Detuning the atomic and photonic frequencies suppresses this effect and induces a transition to a photonic superfluid. Finally, on resonance the system can straightforwardly simulate the dynamics of many-body spin systems.