Photon-Induced Spin-Orbit Coupling in Ultracold Atoms inside Optical Cavity

Comparison between XY Spin Chains with Spin 1/2 or 1 Interacting with Quantized Electromagnetic Field by One and Two Photon Jaynes-Cummings Model

This paper describes two cases of interaction between a quantized electromagnetic field and two different XY spin molecules; one with spins ½, and the other with spins 1. Both interact with a quantized electromagnetic field, with one of the spins in the chain interacting with the electromagnetic field. The interaction between the field mode and the spin chain with spins 1 is described by the one- and two-photon Jaynes-Cummings model (JC model). On the other hand, the interaction between the spins ½ and the electromagnetic field is described only by the one-photon Jaynes-Cummings model. Analytical and numerical calculations were made for the case of a different number of photons in the field mode, a different number of spins, and a different position of spin, interacting with the electromagnetic field. The invariant and block structures of such a chain are shown with a comparison made between the evolution of the magnetic moment and the number of photons in both cases.

Dynamical Spin-Orbit Coupling of a Quantum Gas

We realize the dynamical 1D spin-orbit coupling (SOC) of a Bose-Einstein condensate confined within an optical cavity. The SOC emerges through spin-correlated momentum impulses delivered to the atoms via Raman transitions. These are effected by classical pump fields acting in concert with the quantum dynamical cavity field. Above a critical pump power, the Raman coupling emerges as the atoms superradiantly populate the cavity mode with photons. Concomitantly, these photons cause a backaction onto the atoms, forcing them to order their spin-spatial state. This SOC-inducing superradiant Dicke phase transition results in a spinor-helix polariton condensate. We observe emergent SOC through spin-resolved atomic momentum imaging and temporal heterodyne measurement of the cavity-field emission. Dynamical SOC in quantum gas cavity QED, and the extension to dynamical gauge fields, may enable the creation of Meissner-like effects, topological superfluids, and exotic quantum Hall states in coupled light-matter systems.

Environmental Nonadditivity and Franck-Condon physics in Nonequilibrium Quantum Systems

We show that for a quantum system coupled to both vibrational and electromagnetic environments, enforcing additivity of their combined influences results in nonequilibrium dynamics that does not respect the Franck-Condon principle. We overcome this shortcoming by employing a collective coordinate representation of the vibrational environment, which permits the derivation of a nonadditive master equation. When applied to a two-level emitter our treatment predicts decreasing photon emission rates with increasing vibrational coupling, consistent with Franck-Condon physics. In contrast, the additive approximation predicts the emission rate to be completely insensitive to vibrations. We find that nonadditivity also plays a key role in the stationary nonequilibrium model behavior, enabling two-level population inversion under incoherent electromagnetic excitation.

Meissner-like Effect for a Synthetic Gauge Field in Multimode Cavity QED

Previous realizations of synthetic gauge fields for ultracold atoms do not allow the spatial profile of the field to evolve freely. We propose a scheme which overcomes this restriction by using the light in a multimode cavity with many nearly degenerate transverse modes, in conjunction with Raman coupling, to realize an artificial magnetic field which acts on a Bose-Einstein condensate of neutral atoms. We describe the evolution of such a system and present the results of numerical simulations which show dynamical coupling between the effective field and the matter on which it acts. Crucially, the freedom of the spatial profile of the field is sufficient to realize a close analogue of the Meissner effect, where the magnetic field is expelled from the superfluid. This backaction of the atoms on the synthetic field distinguishes the Meissner-like effect described here from the Hess-Fairbank suppression of rotation in a neutral superfluid observed elsewhere.