Optomagnonics in Dispersive Media: Magnon-Photon Coupling Enhancement at the Epsilon-near-Zero Frequency

Reaching strong light-matter coupling in solid-state systems has long been pursued for the implementation of scalable quantum devices. Here, we put forward a system based on a magnetized epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) medium, and we show that strong coupling between magnetic excitations (magnons) and light can be achieved close to the ENZ frequency due to a drastic enhancement of the magneto-optical response. We adopt a phenomenological approach to quantize the electromagnetic field inside a dispersive magnetic medium in order to obtain the frequency-dependent coupling between magnons and photons. We predict that, in the epsilon-near-zero regime, the single-magnon single-photon coupling can be comparable to the magnon frequency for a small magnetic volume and perfect mode overlap. For state-of-the-art illustrative values, this would correspond to achieving the single-magnon strong coupling regime, where the coupling rate is larger than all the decay rates. Finally, we show that the nonlinear energy spectrum intrinsic to this coupling regime can be probed via the characteristic multiple magnon sidebands in the photon power spectrum.

Flower specialisation: the occluded corolla of snapdragons (Antirrhinum) exhibits two pollinator niches of large long-tongued bees

Flower specialisation of angiosperms includes the occluded corollas of snapdragons (Antirrhinum and some relatives), which have been postulated to be one of the most efficient structures to physical limit access to pollinators. The Iberian Peninsula harbours the highest number of species (18 Iberian of the 20 species of Antirrhinum) that potentially share similar pollinator fauna. Crossing experiments with 18 Iberian species from this study and literature revealed a general pattern of self-incompatibility (SI) - failure in this SI system has been also observed in a few plants - which indicates the need for pollinator agents in Antirrhinum pollination. Field surveys in natural conditions (304 h) found flower visitation (>85%) almost exclusively by 11 species of bee (Anthophora fulvitarsis, Anthophora plumipes, Anthidium sticticum, Apis mellifera, Bombus hortorum, Bombus pascuorum, Bombus ruderatus, Bombus terrestris, Chalicodoma lefebvrei, Chalicodoma pyrenaica and Xylocopa violacea). This result covering the majority of Antirrhinum species suggests that large bees of the two long-tongued bee families (Megachilidae, Apidae) are the major pollinators of Antirrhinum. A bipartite modularity analysis revealed two pollinator systems of long-tongued bees: (i) the long-studied system of bumblebees (Bombus spp.) associated with nine primarily northern species of Antirrhinum; and (ii) a newly proposed pollinator system involving other large bees associated with seven species primarily distributed in southern Mediterranean areas.

Geometry-invariant resonant cavities

Resonant cavities are one of the basic building blocks in various disciplines of science and technology, with numerous applications ranging from abstract theoretical modelling to everyday life devices. The eigenfrequencies of conventional cavities are a function of their geometry, and, thus, the size and shape of a resonant cavity is selected to operate at a specific frequency. Here we demonstrate theoretically the existence of geometry-invariant resonant cavities, that is, resonators whose eigenfrequencies are invariant with respect to geometrical deformations of their external boundaries. This effect is obtained by exploiting the unusual properties of zero-index metamaterials, such as epsilon-near-zero media, which enable decoupling of the temporal and spatial field variations in the lossless limit. This new class of resonators may inspire alternative design concepts, and it might lead to the first generation of deformable resonant devices.

Resonant cavities are a ubiquitous building block in science and technology. Here, Liberal et al. demonstrate theoretically the existence of resonators whose eigenfrequencies are invariant with respect to geometrical deformations of their external boundaries, by exploiting the unusual properties of zero-index metamaterials.