No Arabic abstract
We propose a set of subradiant states which can be prepared and detected in a one-dimensional optical lattice. We find that the decay rates are highly dependent on the spatial phases imprinted on the atomic chain, which gives systematic investigations of the subradiance in the fluorescence experiments. The time evolution of these states can have long decay time where up to hundred milliseconds of lifetime is predicted for one hundred atoms. They can also show decayed Rabi-like oscillations with a beating frequency determined by the difference of cooperative Lamb shift in the subspace. Experimental requirements are also discussed for practical implementation of the subradiant states. Our proposal provides a novel scheme for quantum storage of photons in arrays of two-level atoms through the preparation and detection of subradiant states, which offer opportunities for quantum many-body state preparation and quantum information processing in optical lattices.
We study theoretically the radiative lifetime of bound two-particle excitations in a waveguide with an array of two-level atoms, realising a 1D Dicke-like model. Recently, Zhang et al. [arXiv:1908.01818] have numerically found an unexpected sharp maximum of the bound pair lifetime when the array period $d$ is equal to $1/12$th of the light wavelength $lambda_0$]. We uncover a rigorous transformation from the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with the long-ranged radiative coupling to the nearest-neigbor coupling model with the radiative losses only at the edges. This naturally explains the puzzle of long lifetime: the effective mass of the bound photon pair also diverges for $d=lambda_0/12$, hampering an escape of photons through the edges. We also link the oscillations of the lifetime with the number of atoms to the nonmonotous quasi-flat-band dispersion of the bound pair.
We illustrate the existence of single-excitation bound states for propagating photons interacting with $N$ two-level atoms. These bound states can be calculated from an effective spin model, and their existence relies on dissipation in the system. The appearance of these bound states is in a one-to-one correspondence with zeros in the single-photon transmission and with divergent bunching in the second-order photon-photon correlation function. We also formulate a dissipative version of Levinsons theorem for this system by looking at the relation between the number of bound states and the winding number of the transmission phases. This theorem allows a direct experimental measurement of the number of bound states using the measured transmission phases.
Single-photon cooperative dynamics of an assembly of two-level quantum emitters coupled by a bosonic bath are investigated. The bosonic bath is general and it can be anything as long as the exchange of excitations between quantum emitters and bath is present. In these systems, it is found that the population on the excited emitter keeps a simple and universal trapping law due to the existence of systems dark states. Different from the trapping regime caused by photonemitter dressed states, this type of trapping is only associated with the number of quantum emitters. According to the trapping law, the cooperative spontaneous emission at single-photon level in this kind of systems is universally inhibited when the emitter number is large enough.
We report the experimental reconstruction of a nonclassicality quasiprobability for a single-photon added thermal state. This quantity has significant negativities, which is necessary and sufficient for the nonclassicality of the quantum state. Our method presents several advantages compared to the reconstruction of the P function, since the nonclassicality filters used in this case can regularize the quasiprobabilities as well as their statistical uncertainties. A-priori assumptions about the quantum state are therefore not necessary. We also demonstrate that, in principle, our method is not limited by small quantum efficiencies.
We introduce and experimentally explore the concept of quantum non-Gaussian depth of single-photon states with a positive Wigner function. The depth measures the robustness of a single-photon state against optical losses. The directly witnessed quantum non-Gaussianity withstands significant attenuation, exhibiting a depth of 18 dB, while the nonclassicality remains unchanged. Quantum non-Gaussian depth is an experimentally approachable quantity that is much more robust than the negativity of the Wigner function. Furthermore, we use it to reveal significant differences between otherwise strongly nonclassical single-photon sources.