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

Analytical and numerical study of subradiance-only collective decay from atomic ensembles

Anirudh Yadav, Deniz D. Yavuz

Published Aug 5, 2024• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We analytically and numerically study collective emission from an ensemble of atoms in the weak-excitation regime with the initial condition of uniform excitation of the ensemble. We show that under certain conditions, subradiance at the later stages of the collective decay does not necessarily need to be accompanied by early-time superradiance. We analyze the conditions where such subradiance-only decay occurs for ordered and disordered ensembles in one-, two-, and three-dimensional spatial configurations.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.110.023709

Related papers

Subradiance in dilute atomic ensembles: Role of pairs and multiple scattering

Y. A. Fofanov, I. M. Sokolov, Robin Kaiser +1 more

We study numerically the slow (subradiant) decay of the fluorescence of motionless atoms after a weak pulsed excitation. We show that, in the linear-optics regime and for an excitation detuned by several natural linewidths, the slow decay rate can be dominated by close pairs of atoms (dimers) forming superradiant and subradiant states. However, for a large-enough resonant optical depth and at later time, the dynamics is dominated by collective many-body effects. In this regime, we study the polarization and the spectrum of the emitted light, as well as the spatial distribution of excitation inside the sample, as a function of time during the decay dynamics. The behavior of these observables is consistent with what would be expected for radiation trapping of nearly resonant light. This finding sheds light on subradiance in dilute samples by providing an interpretation based on the light behavior of the system (multiple scattering) which is complementary to the more commonly used picture of the collective atomic Dicke state.

arXiv:2012.10659•Physical Review A•Aug 9, 2021•16 citations

Characterizing superradiant dynamics in atomic arrays via a cumulant expansion approach

Oriol Rubies-Bigordà, Stefan Ostermann, Susanne F. Yelin

Ordered atomic arrays with subwavelength lattice spacing emit light collectively. For fully inverted atomic arrays, this results in an initial burst of radiation and a fast buildup of coherences between the atoms at initial times. Based on a cumulant expansion of the equations of motion, we derive exact analytical expressions for the emission properties and numerically analyze the full many-body problem resulting in the collective decay process for unprecedented system sizes of up to a few hundred atoms. We benchmark the cumulant expansion approach and show that it correctly captures the cooperative dynamics resulting in superradiance. For fully inverted arrays, this allows us to extract the scaling of the superradiant peak with particle number. For partially excited arrays where no coherences are shared among atoms, we also determine the critical number of excitations required for the emergence of superradiance in one- and two-dimensional geometries. In addition, we study the robustness of superradiance in the case of non-unit filling and position disorder.

arXiv:2211.11895•Physical Review Research•Feb 8, 2023•49 citations

Single-Photon Superradiance and Subradiance as Collective Emission from Symmetric and Anti-Symmetric States

N. Piovella, Stefano Olivares

Recent works have shown that collective single photon spontaneous emission from an ensemble of N resonant two-level atoms is a rich field of study. Superradiance describes emission from a completely symmetric state of N atoms, with a single excited atom prepared with a given phase, for instance imprinted by an external laser. Instead, subradiance is associated with the emission from the remaining N−1 asymmetric states, with a collective decay rate less than the single-atom value. Here, we discuss the properties of the orthonormal basis of symmetric and asymmetric states and the entanglement properties of superradiant and subradiant states.

arXiv:2307.14667•Symmetry•Sep 25, 2023•1 citation

Collective early-time spontaneous decay of a strongly driven cold atomic ensemble

Daniel Benedicto Orenes, Naudson Lucas Lopes Matias, Apoorva Apoorva +3 more

In this work we present a numerical and experimental investigation of the collective early-time decay rates of a strongly driven and optically dense cold atomic cloud. We prepare the atomic ensemble by driving the system to its steady state with varying Rabi frequencies $Ω$ that go from the weak $Ω\ll Γ$ to the strong driving regime $Ω\gg Γ$, where $Γ$ is the single-atom decay rate. We investigate the early-time dynamics in the transition between the strong and weak driving regimes using: i) angular-dependent observables such as the light emitted by the cloud, and ii) global observables, i.e., the excited state population. When driving the cloud on-resonance, we find that as a function of the driving frequency, the behavior of the collected light at certain angles transitions from the single-photon subradiant regime to a superradiant regime while the behavior of the excited state population does not show superradiance. The experiment shows good agreement with numerical predictions in the regime of parameters under study.

quant-pharXiv:2511.17187•Physical Review Research•Nov 24, 2025•0 citations

Superradiance and subradiance in inverted atomic arrays

Oriol Rubies-Bigordà, Susanne F. Yelin

Superradiance and subradiance are collective effects that emerge from coherent interactions between quantum emitters. Due to their many-body nature, theoretical studies of extended samples with length larger than the atomic transition wavelength are usually restricted to their early-time behavior or to the few-excitation limit. We use herein a mean-field approach to reduce the complex many-body system to an effective two-atom master equation that includes all correlations up to second order and that can be numerically propagated in time. We find that three-dimensional and two-dimensional inverted atomic arrays sustain superradiance below a critical lattice spacing and quantify the scaling of the superradiant peak for both dimensionalities. Finally, we study the late-time dynamics of the system and demonstrate that a subradiant phase appears before the system finally relaxes.

arXiv:2110.11288•Physical Review A•Nov 28, 2022•45 citations

From superradiance to subradiance: exploring the many-body Dicke ladder

Antoine Glicenstein, Giovanni Ferioli, Antoine Browaeys +1 more

We report a time-resolved study of collective emission in dense ensembles of two-level atoms. We compare, on the same sample, the buildup of superradiance and subradiance from the ensemble when driven by a strong laser. This allows us to measure the dynamics of the population of superradiant and subradiant states as a function of time. In particular, we demonstrate the buildup in time of subradiant states through superradiant dynamics. This illustrates the dynamics of the many-body density matrix of superradiant ensembles of two-level atoms when departing from the ideal conditions of Dicke superradiance, in which symmetry forbids the population of subradiant states.

arXiv:2112.10635•Optics Letters•Feb 17, 2022•29 citations
We analytically and numerically study collective emission from an ensemble of atoms in the weak-excitation regime with the initial condition of uniform excitation of the ensemble. We show that under certain conditions, subradiance at the later stages of the collective decay does not necessarily need to be accompanied by early-time superradiance. We analyze the conditions where such subradiance-only decay occurs for ordered and disordered ensembles in one-, two-, and three-dimensional spatial configurations.
We study numerically the slow (subradiant) decay of the fluorescence of motionless atoms after a weak pulsed excitation. We show that, in the linear-optics regime and for an excitation detuned by several natural linewidths, the slow decay rate can be dominated by close pairs of atoms (dimers) forming superradiant and subradiant states. However, for a large-enough resonant optical depth and at later time, the dynamics is dominated by collective many-body effects. In this regime, we study the polarization and the spectrum of the emitted light, as well as the spatial distribution of excitation inside the sample, as a function of time during the decay dynamics. The behavior of these observables is consistent with what would be expected for radiation trapping of nearly resonant light. This finding sheds light on subradiance in dilute samples by providing an interpretation based on the light behavior of the system (multiple scattering) which is complementary to the more commonly used picture of the collective atomic Dicke state.
Ordered atomic arrays with subwavelength lattice spacing emit light collectively. For fully inverted atomic arrays, this results in an initial burst of radiation and a fast buildup of coherences between the atoms at initial times. Based on a cumulant expansion of the equations of motion, we derive exact analytical expressions for the emission properties and numerically analyze the full many-body problem resulting in the collective decay process for unprecedented system sizes of up to a few hundred atoms. We benchmark the cumulant expansion approach and show that it correctly captures the cooperative dynamics resulting in superradiance. For fully inverted arrays, this allows us to extract the scaling of the superradiant peak with particle number. For partially excited arrays where no coherences are shared among atoms, we also determine the critical number of excitations required for the emergence of superradiance in one- and two-dimensional geometries. In addition, we study the robustness of superradiance in the case of non-unit filling and position disorder.
Recent works have shown that collective single photon spontaneous emission from an ensemble of N resonant two-level atoms is a rich field of study. Superradiance describes emission from a completely symmetric state of N atoms, with a single excited atom prepared with a given phase, for instance imprinted by an external laser. Instead, subradiance is associated with the emission from the remaining N−1 asymmetric states, with a collective decay rate less than the single-atom value. Here, we discuss the properties of the orthonormal basis of symmetric and asymmetric states and the entanglement properties of superradiant and subradiant states.
In this work we present a numerical and experimental investigation of the collective early-time decay rates of a strongly driven and optically dense cold atomic cloud. We prepare the atomic ensemble by driving the system to its steady state with varying Rabi frequencies ΩΩΩ that go from the weak Ω≪ΓΩ\ll ΓΩ≪Γ to the strong driving regime Ω≫ΓΩ\gg ΓΩ≫Γ, where ΓΓΓ is the single-atom decay rate. We investigate the early-time dynamics in the transition between the strong and weak driving regimes using: i) angular-dependent observables such as the light emitted by the cloud, and ii) global observables, i.e., the excited state population. When driving the cloud on-resonance, we find that as a function of the driving frequency, the behavior of the collected light at certain angles transitions from the single-photon subradiant regime to a superradiant regime while the behavior of the excited state population does not show superradiance. The experiment shows good agreement with numerical predictions in the regime of parameters under study.
Superradiance and subradiance are collective effects that emerge from coherent interactions between quantum emitters. Due to their many-body nature, theoretical studies of extended samples with length larger than the atomic transition wavelength are usually restricted to their early-time behavior or to the few-excitation limit. We use herein a mean-field approach to reduce the complex many-body system to an effective two-atom master equation that includes all correlations up to second order and that can be numerically propagated in time. We find that three-dimensional and two-dimensional inverted atomic arrays sustain superradiance below a critical lattice spacing and quantify the scaling of the superradiant peak for both dimensionalities. Finally, we study the late-time dynamics of the system and demonstrate that a subradiant phase appears before the system finally relaxes.
We report a time-resolved study of collective emission in dense ensembles of two-level atoms. We compare, on the same sample, the buildup of superradiance and subradiance from the ensemble when driven by a strong laser. This allows us to measure the dynamics of the population of superradiant and subradiant states as a function of time. In particular, we demonstrate the buildup in time of subradiant states through superradiant dynamics. This illustrates the dynamics of the many-body density matrix of superradiant ensembles of two-level atoms when departing from the ideal conditions of Dicke superradiance, in which symmetry forbids the population of subradiant states.