In this letter, we demonstrate that in both classical and quantum open systems, the Hamiltonian interaction between subsystems, along with relaxations caused by the interaction with reservoirs, results in the appearance of effective non-Hermitian cou
pling. It is determined by a gradient of density of states of reservoirs. We show that for a power-law frequency dependence of the density of states, the non-Hermitian coupling is proportional to a product of the Hermitian coupling strength and the relaxation rates. As a result, this non-Hermitian coupling begins to play a crucial role with increasing Hermitian coupling strength between the subsystems and leads to a qualitative change in the behavior of non-Hermitian systems. Namely, when the Hermitian coupling strength exceeds a critical value, the non-Hermitian coupling becomes so large that it guarantees that the system is in the strong coupling regime at any relaxation rate. This critical coupling can be associated with the transition point to the ultra-strong coupling regime, which, until now, has not been defined exactly.
We demonstrate a new type of non-Hermitian phase transition in open systems far from thermal equilibrium, which takes place in coupled systems interacting with reservoirs at different temperatures. The frequency of the maximum in the spectrum of ener
gy flow through the system plays the role of the order parameter, and is determined by an analog of the -potential. The phase transition is exhibited in the frequency splitting of the spectrum at a critical point, the value of which is determined by the relaxation rates and the coupling strengths. Near the critical point, fluctuations of the order parameter diverge according to a power law. We show that the critical exponent depends only on the ratio of reservoir temperatures. This dependence indicates the non-equilibrium nature of the phase transition at the critical point. This new non-Hermitian phase transition can take place in systems without exceptional points.
The genesis of lasing, as an evolution of the laser hybrid eigenstates comprised of electromagnetic modes and atomic polarization, is considered. It is shown that the start of coherent generation at the laser threshold is preceded by the formation of
a special hybrid state at the lasing pre-threshold. This special state is characterized by an enhanced coupling among excited atoms and electromagnetic modes. This leads to an increase in the rate of stimulated emission in the special state and, ultimately, to lasing. At the lasing pre-threshold, the transformation of hybrid eigenstates has the features of an exceptional point (EP) observed in non-Hermitian systems. The special state is formed when eigenfrequencies of two hybrid states coalesce or come close to each other. Below the pre-threshold, lifetimes of all hybrid states grow with increasing pump rate. When the pump rate crosses the pre-threshold, resonance trapping occurs with the lifetime of the special state continuing to increase while the lifetimes of all other eigenstates begin to decrease. Consequently, the latter eigenstates do not participate in the lasing. Thus, above the pre-threshold, a laser transitions into the single-mode regime.
It is commonly accepted that a collection of pumped atoms without a resonator, which provides feedback, cannot lase. We show that intermodal coupling via active atoms pulls the frequencies of the free-space modes towards the transition frequency of t
he atoms. Although at a low pump rate mode phases randomly fluctuate, phase realizations at which interference of pulled modes is constructive emerge. This results in an increase of stimulated emission into such realizations and makes their lifetime longer. Thus, mode pulling provides positive feedback. When the pump rate exceeds a certain threshold, the lifetime of one of the realizations diverges, and radiation becomes coherent.
Developments in quantum technologies lead to new applications that require radiation sources with specific photon statistics. A widely used Poissonian statistics are easily produced by lasers; however, some applications require super- or sub-Poissoni
an statistics. Statistical properties of a light source are characterized by the second-order coherence function g^(2)(0). This function distinguishes stimulated radiation of lasers with g^(2)(0)=1 from light of other sources. For example, g^(2)(0)=2 for black-body radiation, and g^(2)(0)=0 for single-photon emission. One of the applications requiring super-Poissonian statistics (g^(2)(0)>1) is ghost imaging with thermal light. Ghost imaging also requires light with a narrow linewidth and high intensity. Currently, rather expensive and inefficient light sources are used for this purpose. In the last year, a superluminescent diode based on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) has been considered as a new light source for ghost imaging. Even though ASE has been widely studied, its photon statistics has not been settled - there are neither reliable theoretical estimates of the second-order coherence function nor unambiguous experimental data. Our computer simulation clearly establishes that coherence properties of light produced by ASE are similar to that of a thermal source with g^(2)(0)=2 independent of pump power. This result manifests the fundamental difference between ASE and laser radiation.
Although nanolasers typically have low Q-factors and high lasing thresholds, they have been successfully implemented with various gain media. Intuitively, it seems that an increase in the gain coefficient would improve the characteristics of nanolase
rs. For a plasmonic nanolaser, in particular, a distributed-feed-back (DFB) laser, we propose a self-consistent model that takes into account both spontaneous emission and the multimode character of laser generation to show that for a given pumping strength, the gain coefficient has an optimal value at which the radiation intensity is at a maximum and the radiation linewidth is at a minimum.
In 1954, Dicke predicted that a system of quantum emitters confined to a subwavelength volume would produce a superradiant burst. For such a burst to occur, the emitters must be in the special Dicke state with zero dipole moment. We show that a super
radiant burst may also arise for non-Dicke initial states with nonzero dipole moment. Both for Dicke and non-Dicke initial states, superradiance arises due to a decrease in the dispersion of the quantum phase of the emitter state. For non-Dicke states, the quantum phase is related to the phase of long-period envelopes which modulate the oscillations of the dipole moments. A decrease in dispersion of the quantum phase causes a decrease in the dispersion of envelope phases that results in constructive interference of the envelopes and the superradiant burst.
We study laser generation in 1D distributed feedback lasers with amplifying and lossy layers. We show that when the lasing frequency differs from the transition frequencies of the amplifying medium, loss induced lasing may occur due to the broadening
of the resonator mode with increasing loss in the absorbing layers. This broadening leads to a shift in the lasing frequency towards the transition frequency. As a result, the cavity mode interaction with the amplifying medium is enhanced, and the lasing threshold is lowered.
We demonstrate that interacting spasers arranged in a 2D array of arbitrary size can be mutually synchronized allowing them to supperradiate. For arrays smaller than the free space wavelength, the total radiated power is proportional to the square of
the number N of spasers. For larger arrays, the radiation power is linear in N. However, the emitted beam becomes highly directional with intensity of radiation proportional to N^2 in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the array. Thus, spasers, which mainly amplify near fields, become an efficient source of far field radiation when they are arranged into an array.
