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.
We study the two-body bound states of a model Hamiltonian that describes the interaction between two field-oriented dipole moments. This model has been used extensively in many-body physics of ultracold polar molecules and magnetic atoms, but its few-body physics has been explored less fully. With a hard-wall short-range boundary condition, the dipole-dipole bound states are universal and exhibit a complicated pattern of avoided crossings between states of different character. For more realistic Lennard-Jones short-range interactions, we consider parameters representative of magnetic atoms and polar molecules. For magnetic atoms, the bound states are dominated by the Lennard-Jones potential, and the perturbative dipole-dipole interaction is suppressed by the special structure of van der Waals bound states. For polar molecules, we find a dense manifold of dipole-dipole bound states with many avoided crossings as a function of induced dipole or applied field, similar to those for hard-wall boundary conditions. This universal pattern of states may be observable spectroscopically for pairs of ultracold polar molecules.
A central goal within quantum optics is to realize efficient interactions between photons and atoms. A fundamental limit in nearly all applications based on such systems arises from spontaneous emission, in which photons are absorbed by atoms and then re-scattered into undesired channels. In typical treatments of atomic ensembles, it is assumed that this re-scattering occurs independently, and at a rate given by a single isolated atom, which in turn gives rise to standard limits of fidelity in applications such as quantum memories or quantum gates. However, this assumption can be violated. In particular, spontaneous emission of a collective atomic excitation can be significantly suppressed through strong interference in emission. Thus far the physics underlying the phenomenon of subradiance and techniques to exploit it have not been well-understood. In this work, we provide a comprehensive treatment of this problem. First, we show that in ordered atomic arrays in free space, subradiant states acquire an interpretation in terms of optical modes that are guided by the array, which only emit due to scattering from the ends of the finite chain. We also elucidate the properties of subradiant states in the many-excitation limit. Finally, we introduce the new concept of selective radiance. Whereas subradiant states experience a reduced coupling to all optical modes, selectively radiant states are tailored to simultaneously radiate efficiently into a desired channel while scattering into undesired channels is suppressed, thus enabling an enhanced atom-light interface. We show that these states naturally appear in chains of atoms coupled to nanophotonic structures, and we analyze the performance of photon storage exploiting such states. We find that selectively radiant states allow for a photon storage error that scales exponentially better with number of atoms than previously known bounds.
We report on the immersion of a spin-qubit encoded in a single trapped ion into a spin-polarized neutral atom environment, which possesses both continuous (motional) and discrete (spin) degrees of freedom. The environment offers the possibility of a precise microscopic description, which allows us to understand dynamics and decoherence from first principles. We observe the spin dynamics of the qubit and measure the decoherence times (T1 and T2), which are determined by the spin-exchange interaction as well as by an unexpectedly strong spin-nonconserving coupling mechanism.
Efficient and versatile interfaces for the interaction of light with matter are an essential cornerstone for quantum science. A fundamentally new avenue of controlling light-matter interactions has been recently proposed based on the rich interplay of photon-mediated dipole-dipole interactions in structured subwavelength arrays of quantum emitters. Here we report on the direct observation of the cooperative subradiant response of a two-dimensional (2d) square array of atoms in an optical lattice. We observe a spectral narrowing of the collective atomic response well below the quantum-limited decay of individual atoms into free space. Through spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements, we show that the array acts as an efficient mirror formed by only a single monolayer of a few hundred atoms. By tuning the atom density in the array and by changing the ordering of the particles, we are able to control the cooperative response of the array and elucidate the interplay of spatial order and dipolar interactions for the collective properties of the ensemble. Bloch oscillations of the atoms out of the array enable us to dynamically control the reflectivity of the atomic mirror. Our work demonstrates efficient optical metamaterial engineering based on structured ensembles of atoms and paves the way towards the controlled many-body physics with light and novel light-matter interfaces at the single quantum level.
We propose and analyze a new method to produce single and entangled photons which does not require cavities. It relies on the collective enhancement of light emission as a consequence of the presence of entanglement in atomic ensembles. Light emission is triggered by a laser pulse, and therefore our scheme is deterministic. Furthermore, it allows one to produce a variety of photonic entangled states by first preparing certain atomic states using simple sequences of quantum gates. We analyze the feasibility of our scheme, and particularize it to: ions in linear traps, atoms in optical lattices, and in cells at room temperature.