Artificial gauge field for photons in coupled cavity arrays

Umucalılar, R. O.; Carusotto, Iacopo

doi:10.1103/physreva.84.043804

Cited by 277 publications

(243 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In the study of strongly correlated systems and collective phenomena, light has traditionally assumed the role of a spectroscopic probe. The increasing level of control over light-matter interactions with atomic and solid-state systems [1][2][3] has brought forth a new class of quantum many body systems where light and matter play equally important roles in emergent phenomena: photon lattices [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The basic building block of such systems is the elementary Cavity QED (CQED) system formed by a two-level system (TLS) interacting with a single mode of an electromagnetic resonator.…”

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confidence: 99%

Phase Transition of Light in Cavity QED Lattices

et al. 2012

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Systems of strongly interacting atoms and photons, that can be realized wiring up individual cavity QED systems into lattices, are perceived as a new platform for quantum simulation. While sharing important properties with other systems of interacting quantum particles here we argue that the nature of light-matter interaction gives rise to unique features with no analogs in condensed matter or atomic physics setups. By discussing the physics of a lattice model of delocalized photons coupled locally with two-level systems through the elementary light-matter interaction described by the Rabi model, we argue that the inclusion of counter rotating terms, so far neglected, is crucial to stabilize finite-density quantum phases of correlated photons out of the vacuum, with no need for an artificially engineered chemical potential. We show that the competition between photon delocalization and Rabi non-linearity drives the system across a novel Z2 parity symmetry-breaking quantum criticality between two gapped phases which shares similarities with the Dicke transition of quantum optics and the Ising critical point of quantum magnetism. We discuss the phase diagram as well as the low-energy excitation spectrum and present analytic estimates for critical quantities. Introduction -Interaction between light and matter is one of the most basic processes in nature and represents a cornerstone in our understanding of a broad range of physical phenomena. In the study of strongly correlated systems and collective phenomena, light has traditionally assumed the role of a spectroscopic probe. The increasing level of control over light-matter interactions with atomic and solid-state systems [1-3] has brought forth a new class of quantum many body systems where light and matter play equally important roles in emergent phenomena: photon lattices [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The basic building block of such systems is the elementary Cavity QED (CQED) system formed by a two-level system (TLS) interacting with a single mode of an electromagnetic resonator. When CQED systems are coupled to form a lattice, the interplay between photon blockade [17][18][19] and inter-cavity photon tunnelling leads to phenomenology akin to those of Hubbard models of massive bosons as realized e.g. by ultracold atoms in optical lattices [20]. The possibility of quantum phase transitions of light between Mott-like insulating and superfluid phases has stimulated a great deal of discussion recently [4][5][6][7][8][9][11][12][13][14]. The excitement about these systems stems from their potential as dissipative quantum simulators that provide full access to individual sites through continuous weak measurements [16].

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confidence: 99%

Phase Transition of Light in Cavity QED Lattices

et al. 2012

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“…4b. As a result, the photonic frequency spectrum in this resonator array [39,40] exhibits both Landau levels and fractal patterns known as the Hofstadter butterfly, which are the signatures of a 2D electron in a uniform magnetic field: the integer quantum Hall effect. However, without T breaking, the two copies of "spin" spaces are degenerate in frequency and couple to each other.…”

Section: Coupled Resonatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topological photonics

2014

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The application of topology, the mathematics studying conserved properties through continuous deformations, is creating new opportunities within photonics, bringing with it theoretical discoveries and a wealth of potential applications. This field was inspired by the discovery of topological insulators, in which interfacial electrons transport without dissipation even in the presence of impurities. Similarly, the use of carefully-designed wave-vector space topologies allows the creation of interfaces that support new states of light with useful and interesting properties. In particular, it suggests the realization of unidirectional waveguides that allow light to flow around large imperfections without back-reflection. The present review explains the underlying principles and highlights how topological effects can be realized in photonic crystals, coupled resonators, metamaterials and quasicrystals.Frequency, wavevector, polarization and phase are degrees of freedom that are often used to describe a photonic system. In the last few years, topology -a property of a photonic material that characterizes the quantized global behavior of the wavefunctions on its entire dispersion band-has been emerging as another indispensable ingredient, opening a path forward to the discovery of fundamentally new states of light and possibly revolutionary applications. Possible practical applications of topological photonics include photonic circuitry less dependent on isolators and slow light insensitive to disorder.Topological ideas in photonics branch from exciting developments in solid-state materials, along with the discovery of new phases of matter called topological insulators [1, 2]. Topological insulators, being insulating in their bulk, conduct electricity on their surfaces without dissipation or backscattering, even in the presence of large impurities. The first example was the integer quantum Hall effect, discovered in 1980. In quantum Hall states, two-dimensional (2D) electrons in a uniform magnetic field form quantized cyclotron orbits of discrete eigenvalues called Landau levels. When the electron energy sits within the energy gap between the Landau levels, the measured edge conductance remains constant within the accuracy of about one part in a billion, regardless of sample details like size, composition and impurity levels. In 1988, Haldane proposed a theoretical model to achieve the same phenomenon but in a periodic system without Landau levels [3], the so-called quantum anomalous Hall effect.Posted on arXiv in 2005, Haldane and Raghu transcribed the key feature of this electronic model into photonics [4,5]. They theoretically proposed the photonic analogue of the quantum (anomalous) Hall effect in photonic crystals [6], the periodic variation of optical materials, molding photons the same way as solids modulating electrons. Three years later, the idea was confirmed by Wang et al., who provided realistic material designs [7] and experimental observations [8]. Those studies spurred numerous subsequent theoretical [9...

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“…In contrast, in edge-mode guiding systems [11,12,[15][16][17][18], the intensity maximum is located at the edge. This difference is of great importance in practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…However, recent theoretical works [11,12,18,20] have shown that an effective magnetic field for photons can exist if light would accumulate a directiondependent phase when propagating. Consequently, the discussion above for electrons applies to photons in an effective gauge field as well: a properly designed photonic gauge field should be able to shift the dispersion relation in the k space.…”

Section: B Effect Of Gauge Field On Dispersion Relationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Photons are neutral particles, and hence there is no naturally existing gauge field that couples to photons. Nevertheless, in recent years, various mechanisms for creating effective gauge field for photons have been proposed [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and demonstrated [15][16][17]. In particular, it has been pointed out by Fang et al [18] that a photonic gauge field can be created in a dynamically modulated photonic structure by controlling the modulation phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Light Guiding by Effective Gauge Field for Photons

2014

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We propose a waveguiding mechanism based on the effective gauge potential for photons. The waveguide geometry consists of core and cladding regions with the same underlying dispersion relation, but subject to different gauge potentials. This geometry can be realized in a dynamically modulated resonator lattice and provides a conceptually straightforward and dynamically reconfigurable mechanism for generating a one-way waveguide.

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Artificial gauge field for photons in coupled cavity arrays

Cited by 277 publications

References 49 publications

Phase Transition of Light in Cavity QED Lattices

Phase Transition of Light in Cavity QED Lattices

Topological photonics

Light Guiding by Effective Gauge Field for Photons

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