In analogy to transistors in classical electronic circuits, a quantum optical switch is an important element of quantum circuits and quantum networks. Operated at the fundamental limit where a single quantum of light or matter controls another field
or material system, it may enable fascinating applications such as long-distance quantum communication, distributed quantum information processing and metrology, and the exploration of novel quantum states of matter. Here, by strongly coupling a photon to a single atom trapped in the near field of a nanoscale photonic crystal cavity, we realize a system where a single atom switches the phase of a photon, and a single photon modifies the atoms phase. We experimentally demonstrate an atom-induced optical phase shift that is nonlinear at the two-photon level, a photon number router that separates individual photons and photon pairs into different output modes, and a single-photon switch where a single gate photon controls the propagation of a subsequent probe field. These techniques pave the way towards integrated quantum nanophotonic networks involving multiple atomic nodes connected by guided light.
We present an Asymptotic Bound-state Model which can be used to accurately describe all Feshbach resonance positions and widths in a two-body system. With this model we determine the coupled bound states of a particular two-body system. The model is
based on analytic properties of the two-body Hamiltonian, and on asymptotic properties of uncoupled bound states in the interaction potentials. In its most simple version, the only necessary parameters are the least bound state energies and actual potentials are not used. The complexity of the model can be stepwise increased by introducing threshold effects, multiple vibrational levels and additional potential parameters. The model is extensively tested on the 6Li-40K system and additional calculations on the 40K-87Rb system are presented.
