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

Observation of Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking at the Dicke Quantum Phase Transition

Kristian Baumann, Rafael Mottl, Ferdinand Brennecke, Tilman Esslinger

Published May 2, 2011• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We study symmetry breaking at the Dicke quantum phase transition by coupling a motional degree of freedom of a Bose-Einstein condensate to the field of an optical cavity. Using an optical heterodyne detection scheme we observe symmetry breaking in real-time and distinguish the two superradiant phases. We explore the process of symmetry breaking in the presence of a small symmetry-breaking field, and study its dependence on the rate at which the critical point is crossed. Coherent switching between the two ordered phases is demonstrated.

Related papers

Exploring Symmetry Breaking at the Dicke Quantum Phase Transition

Kristian Baumann, Rafael Mottl, Ferdinand Brennecke +1 more

We study symmetry breaking at the Dicke quantum phase transition by coupling a motional degree of freedom of a Bose-Einstein condensate to the field of an optical cavity. Using an optical heterodyne detection scheme, we observe symmetry breaking in real time and distinguish the two superradiant phases. We explore the process of symmetry breaking in the presence of a small symmetry-breaking field and study its dependence on the rate at which the critical point is crossed. Coherent switching between the two ordered phases is demonstrated.

arXiv:1105.0426•Physical Review Letters•Sep 30, 2011•426 citations

Experimental Realization of The Dicke Quantum Phase Transition

Kristian Baumann

We report on the first experimental realization of the Dicke quantum phase transition realized in the quantum motion of a Bose–Einstein condensate coupled to an optical cavity. Conceptually, the transition is driven by cavity-mediated long-range interactions, giving rise to the emergence of a self-organized supersolid phase. The Dicke phase transition, predicted in 1973, has not been demonstrated experimentally before this work, both due to fundamental and technological reasons. These challenges have been overcome in the present thesis by employing atomic momentum states of a Bose-Einstein condensate, which are coupled via two-photon Raman transitions involving a cavity photon and a free-space pump photon. This open-system implementation of the Dicke model allows to tune all relevant parameters and offers a unique detection scheme to monitor the manybody system in real time. We demonstrate that the phase transition is accompanied by a macroscopically occupied cavity field and a striking change in the atomic momentum distribution, due to spontaneous self-organization of the atomic density on a checkerboard lattice. The boundary of the transition is mapped out by scanning two parameters of the Dicke model, to reveal a phase diagram in close agreement with the model description. Two different ordered configurations are allowed in the superradiant phase, giving rise to the concept of spontaneous symmetry breaking at the phase transition. We experimentally distinguish the symmetry-broken states and study the origin of the symmetry-breaking process. The finite spatial extension of our system induces a small symmetry-breaking field which changes randomly on each experimental realization. The influence of this field is studied and shown to diminish upon dynamically crossing the transition point with increasing transition rates.

•Jan 1, 2011•2 citations

Collective excitations of a laser driven atomic condensate in an optical cavity

Barış Öztop, Özgür Esat Müstecaplıoğlu, Hakan E. Türeci

We theoretically examine collective excitations of an optically driven atomic Bose-Einstein condensate, coupled to a high-finesse optical cavity. This open system has been recently used for the experimental demonstration of the Dicke superradiance of cavity photons, which is simultaneously and mutually triggered by spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry of the condensate into a crystalline order. We first develop a Hartree-Fock mean field dynamical model of the physical system. Using this model, we compute the dynamics of the cavity photons, the condensate density profile and the Dicke phase transition diagram. Both the imaginary-time and real-time evolution methods are used in the calculations. Collective excitations are determined by the solving Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. The spectrum, softening of the modes and energetic hierarchy of excitations are determined.

Laser Physics•Jan 11, 2013•3 citations

Exotic quantum phase transitions in a Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to an optical cavity

Gang Chen, Xiaoguang Wang, J.-Q. Liang +1 more

An extended Dicke model, which includes atom-atom interactions and a driving classical laser field, is established for a Bose-Einstein condensate inside an ultrahigh-finesse optical cavity. A feasible experimental setup with a strong atom-field coupling is proposed, where most parameters are easily controllable and thus the predicted a second-order superradiant-normal phase transition may be detected by measuring the ground-state atomic population. More intriguingly, second-order phase transition from the superradiant phase to the ``Mott'' phase is also revealed. In addition, a rich and exotic phase diagram is presented.

arXiv:0802.3972•Physical Review A•Aug 29, 2008•50 citations

Quantum Fisher Information Probing a Quantum-Gas Cavity QED

Lehan Zhu, Qian Wang, Zhaoxin Liang

Motivated by recent efforts in simulating nonequilibrium scenarios of the Dicke model in quantum-gas cavity QED, we investigate direct probing of the normal-to-superradiant quantum phase transition via Quantum Fisher Information (QFI). This transition represents a paradigmatic example of spontaneous symmetry breaking in quantum optics, where the system’s Z2 symmetry is broken in the superradiant phase. At zero temperature, we derive analytical expressions for the QFI in the limit where the atomic transition frequency—scaled by the cavity frequency—tends to infinity. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of finite temperature on the QFI in both the thermodynamic limit and the regime of a finite but large number of atoms. All results demonstrate that the QFI exhibits a singularity as the coupling crosses the critical point—a clear signature of quantum criticality associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking. The divergent behavior of the QFI across the quantum phase transition directly relates to measuring dynamic susceptibilities using experimentally accessible Bragg spectroscopy tools and resources.

Symmetry•Nov 9, 2025•0 citations

Dicke-Model Phase Transition in the Quantum Motion of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in an Optical Cavity

Dávid Nagy, Gábor Kónya, Gergely Szirmai +1 more

We show that the motion of a laser-driven Bose-Einstein condensate in a high-finesse optical cavity realizes the spin-boson Dicke model. The quantum phase transition of the Dicke model from the normal to the superradiant phase corresponds to the self-organization of atoms from the homogeneous into a periodically patterned distribution above a critical driving strength. The fragility of the ground state due to photon measurement induced backaction is calculated.

arXiv:0912.3260•Physical Review Letters•Apr 2, 2010•397 citations
We study symmetry breaking at the Dicke quantum phase transition by coupling a motional degree of freedom of a Bose-Einstein condensate to the field of an optical cavity. Using an optical heterodyne detection scheme we observe symmetry breaking in real-time and distinguish the two superradiant phases. We explore the process of symmetry breaking in the presence of a small symmetry-breaking field, and study its dependence on the rate at which the critical point is crossed. Coherent switching between the two ordered phases is demonstrated.
We study symmetry breaking at the Dicke quantum phase transition by coupling a motional degree of freedom of a Bose-Einstein condensate to the field of an optical cavity. Using an optical heterodyne detection scheme, we observe symmetry breaking in real time and distinguish the two superradiant phases. We explore the process of symmetry breaking in the presence of a small symmetry-breaking field and study its dependence on the rate at which the critical point is crossed. Coherent switching between the two ordered phases is demonstrated.
We report on the first experimental realization of the Dicke quantum phase transition realized in the quantum motion of a Bose–Einstein condensate coupled to an optical cavity. Conceptually, the transition is driven by cavity-mediated long-range interactions, giving rise to the emergence of a self-organized supersolid phase. The Dicke phase transition, predicted in 1973, has not been demonstrated experimentally before this work, both due to fundamental and technological reasons. These challenges have been overcome in the present thesis by employing atomic momentum states of a Bose-Einstein condensate, which are coupled via two-photon Raman transitions involving a cavity photon and a free-space pump photon. This open-system implementation of the Dicke model allows to tune all relevant parameters and offers a unique detection scheme to monitor the manybody system in real time. We demonstrate that the phase transition is accompanied by a macroscopically occupied cavity field and a striking change in the atomic momentum distribution, due to spontaneous self-organization of the atomic density on a checkerboard lattice. The boundary of the transition is mapped out by scanning two parameters of the Dicke model, to reveal a phase diagram in close agreement with the model description. Two different ordered configurations are allowed in the superradiant phase, giving rise to the concept of spontaneous symmetry breaking at the phase transition. We experimentally distinguish the symmetry-broken states and study the origin of the symmetry-breaking process. The finite spatial extension of our system induces a small symmetry-breaking field which changes randomly on each experimental realization. The influence of this field is studied and shown to diminish upon dynamically crossing the transition point with increasing transition rates.
We theoretically examine collective excitations of an optically driven atomic Bose-Einstein condensate, coupled to a high-finesse optical cavity. This open system has been recently used for the experimental demonstration of the Dicke superradiance of cavity photons, which is simultaneously and mutually triggered by spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry of the condensate into a crystalline order. We first develop a Hartree-Fock mean field dynamical model of the physical system. Using this model, we compute the dynamics of the cavity photons, the condensate density profile and the Dicke phase transition diagram. Both the imaginary-time and real-time evolution methods are used in the calculations. Collective excitations are determined by the solving Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. The spectrum, softening of the modes and energetic hierarchy of excitations are determined.
An extended Dicke model, which includes atom-atom interactions and a driving classical laser field, is established for a Bose-Einstein condensate inside an ultrahigh-finesse optical cavity. A feasible experimental setup with a strong atom-field coupling is proposed, where most parameters are easily controllable and thus the predicted a second-order superradiant-normal phase transition may be detected by measuring the ground-state atomic population. More intriguingly, second-order phase transition from the superradiant phase to the ``Mott'' phase is also revealed. In addition, a rich and exotic phase diagram is presented.
Motivated by recent efforts in simulating nonequilibrium scenarios of the Dicke model in quantum-gas cavity QED, we investigate direct probing of the normal-to-superradiant quantum phase transition via Quantum Fisher Information (QFI). This transition represents a paradigmatic example of spontaneous symmetry breaking in quantum optics, where the system’s Z2 symmetry is broken in the superradiant phase. At zero temperature, we derive analytical expressions for the QFI in the limit where the atomic transition frequency—scaled by the cavity frequency—tends to infinity. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of finite temperature on the QFI in both the thermodynamic limit and the regime of a finite but large number of atoms. All results demonstrate that the QFI exhibits a singularity as the coupling crosses the critical point—a clear signature of quantum criticality associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking. The divergent behavior of the QFI across the quantum phase transition directly relates to measuring dynamic susceptibilities using experimentally accessible Bragg spectroscopy tools and resources.