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

Physical Review A

Nonlocal nonlinear optical X waves and their active control in a Rydberg atomic gas

Huanhuan Xu, Chao Hang, Guoxiang Huang

Published May 15, 2020• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

$X$ waves are a special type of wave packet that can maintain their transverse profile of $X$ shape during propagation, and they are of much interest for the study of fundamental physics and practical applications. Here we present a scheme to generate nonlinear $X$ waves and realize their active control by using a cold gas of Rydberg atoms via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We show that, due to the EIT effect contributed by a control laser field and the strong, nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity contributed by Rydberg-Rydberg interaction between atoms, the system supports high-dimensional, nonlocal, and nonlinear optical $X$ waves, which have low propagation loss, ultraslow propagation velocity, and ultralow generation power. We also show that the stability domain of such $X$ waves can be greatly enlarged by increasing the nonlocality degree of the Kerr nonlinearity, and their motion trajectory can be manipulated by using an external magnetic field. Our study opens a route for generating and controlling nonlocal ultraslow nonlinear optical $X$ waves, which may have promising applications in optical information processing and transmission.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.101.053832

Related papers

Accessing and manipulating dispersive shock waves in a nonlinear and nonlocal Rydberg medium

Chao Hang, Zhengyang Bai, Weibin Li +2 more

Dispersive shock waves (DSWs) are fascinating wave phenomena occurring in media when nonlinearity overwhelms dispersion (or diffraction). Creating DSWs with low generation power and realizing their active controls is desirable but remains a longstanding challenge. Here, we propose a scheme to generate weak-light DSWs and realize their manipulations in an atomic gas involving strongly interacting Rydberg states under the condition of electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that for a two-dimensional Rydberg gas, weak nonlocality of optical Kerr nonlinearity can significantly change and induce a singular behavior of the edge speed and hence an instability of the DSWs, which, however, can be suppressed by increasing the degree of the Kerr nonlocality. We also show that in a three-dimensional Rydberg gas, DSWs can be created and propagate stably when the system works in the intermediate nonlocality regime. Different from the DSWs reported before, the DSWs found here have extremely low generation power. Moreover, such DSWs can be actively controlled; in particular, they can be stored and retrieved with high efficiency and fidelity through switching off and on a control laser field. The results reported here are useful not only for unveiling intriguing physics of DSWs but also for finding promising applications of nonlinear and nonlocal Rydberg media.

arXiv:2210.10614•Physical Review A•Mar 15, 2023•9 citations

Stable single light bullets and vortices and their active control in cold Rydberg gases

Zhengyang Bai, Weibin Li, Guoxiang Huang

Realizing single light bullets and vortices that are stable in high dimensions is a long-standing goal in the study of nonlinear optical physics. On the other hand, the storage and retrieval of such stable high dimensional optical pulses may offer a variety of applications. Here we present a scheme to generate such optical pulses in a cold Rydberg atomic gas. By virtue of electromagnetically induced transparency, strong, long-range atom-atom interaction in Rydberg states is mapped to light fields, resulting in a giant, fast-responding nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity and the formation of light bullets and vortices carrying orbital angular momenta, which have extremely low generation power, very slow propagation velocity, and can stably propagate, with the stability provided by the combination of local and the nonlocal Kerr nonlinearities. We demonstrate that the light bullets and vortices obtained can be stored and retrieved in the system with high efficiency and fidelity. Our study provides a new route for manipulating high-dimensional nonlinear optical processes via the controlled optical nonlinearities in cold Rydberg gases.

arXiv:1812.05502•Optica•Mar 5, 2019•90 citations

Parity-time symmetry along with nonlocal optical solitons and their active controls in a Rydberg atomic gas

Chao Hang, Guoxiang Huang

We propose a scheme to realize parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry and nonlocal optical solitons in a cold Rydberg atomic system with electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that a two-dimensional (2D) periodic optical potential with $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry can be obtained for the propagation of probe laser field by using an incoherent population pumping between two low-lying levels and spatial modulations of control and assistant laser fields. We also show that, based on the giant nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity originated from the strong, long-range atom-atom interaction, the system supports 2D nonlocal gap solitons with very low light intensity. In particular, we find that the degree of the nonlocality of the Kerr nonlinearity, which can be actively tuned in our system, can be used to manipulate the phase transition of the $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry and the behavior of the nonlocal optical solitons. Our study opens a route for developing non-Hermitian nonlinear optics, especially for realizing and controlling high-dimensional weak-light optical solitons through adjustable $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry and giant nonlocal optical nonlinearity.

Physical Review A•Oct 19, 2018•37 citations

Quantum reflections of nonlocal optical solitons in a cold Rydberg atomic gas

Zhengyang Bai, Qi Zhang, Guoxiang Huang

Quantum reflection refers to a nonvanishing reflection probability in the absence of a classically turning point. Much attention has been paid to such reflections due to their fundamental, intriguing physics and potential practical applications. Here we propose a scheme to realize a quantum reflection of nonlocal nonlinear optical beams in a cold Rydberg atomic gas via electromagnetically induced transparency working in a dispersion regime. Based on the long-range interaction between Rydberg atoms, we found that the system supports low-power nonlocal optical solitons. Such nonlocal solitons can display a sharp transition between reflection, trapping, and transmission when scattered by a linear attractive potential, created by gate photons stored in another Rydberg state. Different from conventional physical systems explored up to now, the quantum reflection of the nonlocal optical solitons in the Rydberg atomic gas exhibits interesting anomalous behavior, which can be actively manipulated by tuning the incident velocity and intensity of the probe field, as well as the nonlocality of the Kerr nonlinearity inherent in the Rydberg atomic gas. The results reported here are not only useful for developing Rydberg nonlinear optics but also helpful for characterizing the physical property of the Rydberg gas and for designing novel nonlinear optical devices.

arXiv:2005.10003•Physical Review A•May 19, 2020•10 citations

Structural phase transitions of optical patterns in atomic gases with microwave-controlled Rydberg interactions

Zeyun Shi, Weibin Li, Guoxiang Huang

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and formation of self-organized structures in nonlinear systems are intriguing and important phenomena in nature. Advancing such research to new nonlinear optical regimes is of much interest for both fundamental physics and practical applications. Here we propose a scheme to realize optical pattern formation in a cold Rydberg atomic gas via electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that, by coupling two Rydberg states with a microwave field (microwave dressing), the nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity of the Rydberg gas can be enhanced significantly and may be tuned actively. Based on such nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity, we demonstrate that a plane-wave state of a probe laser field can undergo a modulation instability (MI) and hence spontaneous symmetry breaking, which may result in the emergence of various self-organized optical patterns. Especially, we find that a hexagonal lattice pattern (which is the only optical pattern when the microwave dressing is absent) may develop into several types of square lattice ones when the microwave dressing is applied; moreover, as an outcome of the MI the formation of nonlocal optical solitons is also possible in the system. The optical patterns and nonlocal optical solitons found here can be flexibly manipulated by adjusting the effective probe-field intensity, nonlocality degree of the Kerr nonlinearity, and strength of the microwave field. Our paper opens a route for versatile controls of self-organizations and structural phase transitions of laser light, which may have potential applications in optical information processing and transmission.

arXiv:2007.12452•Physical Review A•Aug 17, 2020•13 citations

Linear and nonlinear Bragg diffraction by electromagnetically induced gratings with PT symmetry and their active control in a Rydberg atomic gas

Jie Gao, Chao Hang, Guoxiang Huang

Due to its myriad applications in many fields of science and technology, novel light diffraction from specially designed optical gratings is a subject of great interest. Here, we propose a scheme to realize the linear and nonlinear Bragg diffractions from an electromagnetically induced grating (EIG) with parity-time $(\mathcal{PT})$ symmetry in a cold Rydberg atomic gas, where the Rydberg-Rydberg interaction between atoms are mapped to strong and long-range interaction between photons, characterized by a giant nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity. We show that a probe laser beam with very low light intensity incident upon the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric EIG can display distinctive asymmetric diffraction patterns, which can be actively manipulated through tuning the gain-absorption coefficient of the EIG and the input power of the laser beam. We also show that the intensity distribution among different diffraction orders depends significantly on the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry property of the EIG and on the magnitude and nonlocality degree of the Kerr nonlinearity. In addition, we demonstrate that such Bragg diffraction patterns can be controlled by an external gradient magnetic field, which provides a different way of diffraction control. The research results reported here are not only useful for understanding the unique properties of linear and nonlinear Bragg diffractions by $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric gratings but may also be promising for designing optical devices applicable in optical information processing and transmission.

Physical Review A•Jun 15, 2022•13 citations
XXX waves are a special type of wave packet that can maintain their transverse profile of XXX shape during propagation, and they are of much interest for the study of fundamental physics and practical applications. Here we present a scheme to generate nonlinear XXX waves and realize their active control by using a cold gas of Rydberg atoms via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We show that, due to the EIT effect contributed by a control laser field and the strong, nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity contributed by Rydberg-Rydberg interaction between atoms, the system supports high-dimensional, nonlocal, and nonlinear optical XXX waves, which have low propagation loss, ultraslow propagation velocity, and ultralow generation power. We also show that the stability domain of such XXX waves can be greatly enlarged by increasing the nonlocality degree of the Kerr nonlinearity, and their motion trajectory can be manipulated by using an external magnetic field. Our study opens a route for generating and controlling nonlocal ultraslow nonlinear optical XXX waves, which may have promising applications in optical information processing and transmission.
Dispersive shock waves (DSWs) are fascinating wave phenomena occurring in media when nonlinearity overwhelms dispersion (or diffraction). Creating DSWs with low generation power and realizing their active controls is desirable but remains a longstanding challenge. Here, we propose a scheme to generate weak-light DSWs and realize their manipulations in an atomic gas involving strongly interacting Rydberg states under the condition of electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that for a two-dimensional Rydberg gas, weak nonlocality of optical Kerr nonlinearity can significantly change and induce a singular behavior of the edge speed and hence an instability of the DSWs, which, however, can be suppressed by increasing the degree of the Kerr nonlocality. We also show that in a three-dimensional Rydberg gas, DSWs can be created and propagate stably when the system works in the intermediate nonlocality regime. Different from the DSWs reported before, the DSWs found here have extremely low generation power. Moreover, such DSWs can be actively controlled; in particular, they can be stored and retrieved with high efficiency and fidelity through switching off and on a control laser field. The results reported here are useful not only for unveiling intriguing physics of DSWs but also for finding promising applications of nonlinear and nonlocal Rydberg media.
Realizing single light bullets and vortices that are stable in high dimensions is a long-standing goal in the study of nonlinear optical physics. On the other hand, the storage and retrieval of such stable high dimensional optical pulses may offer a variety of applications. Here we present a scheme to generate such optical pulses in a cold Rydberg atomic gas. By virtue of electromagnetically induced transparency, strong, long-range atom-atom interaction in Rydberg states is mapped to light fields, resulting in a giant, fast-responding nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity and the formation of light bullets and vortices carrying orbital angular momenta, which have extremely low generation power, very slow propagation velocity, and can stably propagate, with the stability provided by the combination of local and the nonlocal Kerr nonlinearities. We demonstrate that the light bullets and vortices obtained can be stored and retrieved in the system with high efficiency and fidelity. Our study provides a new route for manipulating high-dimensional nonlinear optical processes via the controlled optical nonlinearities in cold Rydberg gases.
We propose a scheme to realize parity-time (PT\mathcal{PT}PT) symmetry and nonlocal optical solitons in a cold Rydberg atomic system with electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that a two-dimensional (2D) periodic optical potential with PT\mathcal{PT}PT symmetry can be obtained for the propagation of probe laser field by using an incoherent population pumping between two low-lying levels and spatial modulations of control and assistant laser fields. We also show that, based on the giant nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity originated from the strong, long-range atom-atom interaction, the system supports 2D nonlocal gap solitons with very low light intensity. In particular, we find that the degree of the nonlocality of the Kerr nonlinearity, which can be actively tuned in our system, can be used to manipulate the phase transition of the PT\mathcal{PT}PT symmetry and the behavior of the nonlocal optical solitons. Our study opens a route for developing non-Hermitian nonlinear optics, especially for realizing and controlling high-dimensional weak-light optical solitons through adjustable PT\mathcal{PT}PT symmetry and giant nonlocal optical nonlinearity.
Quantum reflection refers to a nonvanishing reflection probability in the absence of a classically turning point. Much attention has been paid to such reflections due to their fundamental, intriguing physics and potential practical applications. Here we propose a scheme to realize a quantum reflection of nonlocal nonlinear optical beams in a cold Rydberg atomic gas via electromagnetically induced transparency working in a dispersion regime. Based on the long-range interaction between Rydberg atoms, we found that the system supports low-power nonlocal optical solitons. Such nonlocal solitons can display a sharp transition between reflection, trapping, and transmission when scattered by a linear attractive potential, created by gate photons stored in another Rydberg state. Different from conventional physical systems explored up to now, the quantum reflection of the nonlocal optical solitons in the Rydberg atomic gas exhibits interesting anomalous behavior, which can be actively manipulated by tuning the incident velocity and intensity of the probe field, as well as the nonlocality of the Kerr nonlinearity inherent in the Rydberg atomic gas. The results reported here are not only useful for developing Rydberg nonlinear optics but also helpful for characterizing the physical property of the Rydberg gas and for designing novel nonlinear optical devices.
Spontaneous symmetry breaking and formation of self-organized structures in nonlinear systems are intriguing and important phenomena in nature. Advancing such research to new nonlinear optical regimes is of much interest for both fundamental physics and practical applications. Here we propose a scheme to realize optical pattern formation in a cold Rydberg atomic gas via electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that, by coupling two Rydberg states with a microwave field (microwave dressing), the nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity of the Rydberg gas can be enhanced significantly and may be tuned actively. Based on such nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity, we demonstrate that a plane-wave state of a probe laser field can undergo a modulation instability (MI) and hence spontaneous symmetry breaking, which may result in the emergence of various self-organized optical patterns. Especially, we find that a hexagonal lattice pattern (which is the only optical pattern when the microwave dressing is absent) may develop into several types of square lattice ones when the microwave dressing is applied; moreover, as an outcome of the MI the formation of nonlocal optical solitons is also possible in the system. The optical patterns and nonlocal optical solitons found here can be flexibly manipulated by adjusting the effective probe-field intensity, nonlocality degree of the Kerr nonlinearity, and strength of the microwave field. Our paper opens a route for versatile controls of self-organizations and structural phase transitions of laser light, which may have potential applications in optical information processing and transmission.
Due to its myriad applications in many fields of science and technology, novel light diffraction from specially designed optical gratings is a subject of great interest. Here, we propose a scheme to realize the linear and nonlinear Bragg diffractions from an electromagnetically induced grating (EIG) with parity-time (PT)(\mathcal{PT})(PT) symmetry in a cold Rydberg atomic gas, where the Rydberg-Rydberg interaction between atoms are mapped to strong and long-range interaction between photons, characterized by a giant nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity. We show that a probe laser beam with very low light intensity incident upon the PT\mathcal{PT}PT-symmetric EIG can display distinctive asymmetric diffraction patterns, which can be actively manipulated through tuning the gain-absorption coefficient of the EIG and the input power of the laser beam. We also show that the intensity distribution among different diffraction orders depends significantly on the PT\mathcal{PT}PT-symmetry property of the EIG and on the magnitude and nonlocality degree of the Kerr nonlinearity. In addition, we demonstrate that such Bragg diffraction patterns can be controlled by an external gradient magnetic field, which provides a different way of diffraction control. The research results reported here are not only useful for understanding the unique properties of linear and nonlinear Bragg diffractions by PT\mathcal{PT}PT-symmetric gratings but may also be promising for designing optical devices applicable in optical information processing and transmission.