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.
In surface-enhanced Raman scattering experiments that use plasmonic nanostructures as substrates, the scattering spectrum contains a broad background usually associated with photoluminescence. This background exists above and below the frequency of t
he incident wave. The low-frequency part of this background is similar to the scattering spectrum of a plasmon nanoparticle, while the high-frequency part follows the Gibbs distribution. We develop a theory that explains experimentally observed features in both the high- and low-frequency parts of the photoluminescence spectrum from a unified point of view. We show that photoluminescence is attributed to the cascade Brillouin scattering of the incident wave by metal phonons under the plasmon resonance conditions. The theory is in good agreement with our measurements over the entire frequency range of the background.
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.
We propose a method for increasing the Raman scattering from an ensemble of molecules by up to four orders of magnitude. Our method requires an additional coherent source of IR radiation with the half-frequency of the Stokes shift. This radiation exc
ites the molecule electronic subsystem that in turn, via Frohlich coupling, parametrically excites nuclear oscillations at a resonant frequency. This motion is coherent and leads to a boost of the Raman signal in comparison to the spontaneous signal because its intensity is proportional to the squared number of molecules in the illuminated volume.
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.
We study the evolution of an open quantum system described by a dynamical semigroup having the Lindblad superoperator as a generator. This generator may have an eigenfunction with a unity eigenvalue, referred to as a constant of motion (COM). An open
quantum system has a unique stationary state if and only if it has no COMs. A system with multiple stationary states has a basis of COMs; any COM of the system is a linear combination of the basis COMs. The basis divides the space of system states into subspaces. Each subspace has its own stationary state, and any stationary state of the system is a linear combination of these states. Usually, neither the basis of COMs nor even the number of COMs is known. We demonstrate that finding the stationary state of the system does not require looking for the COMs. Instead, one can construct a set of invariant subspaces. If the system evolution begins from one of these subspaces, the system will remain in it, arriving at a stationary state independent of evolution in other subspaces. We suggest a direct way of finding the invariant subspaces by studying the evolution of the system. We show that the sets of invariant subspaces and subspaces generated by the basis of COMs are equivalent. A stationary state of the system is a weighted sum of stationary states in each invariant subspace; the weighted factors are determined by the initial state of the system.
The phenomenon of upconversion, in which a system sequentially absorbs two or more photons and emits a photon of a higher frequency, has been used in numerous applications. These include high-resolution non-destructive bioimaging, deep-penetrating ph
otodynamic therapy, and photovoltaic devices. Due to the multi-photon mechanism of upconversion, its quantum yield cannot exceed 50%. We propose a new mechanism of upconversion, which is based on single-photon absorption; in this process, unlike in multiple-photon upconversion, the quantum yield can be higher than 50%. We show that in a system of two atoms interacting with a reservoir, a low-frequency excitation of one atom can be upconverted into a high-frequency excitation of another atom. The energy required for such an upconversion is drawn from the reservoir, which destroys coherence. Decoherence leads to the transition of the system from the pure state with a small energy dispersion to the mixed state with greater dispersion of energy, while the system entropy increases. The phenomenon of single-photon upconversion can be used to increase the efficacy of devices utilizing upconversion.
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.
