Theoretical research in nonlinear and quantum optics

非线性与量子光学理论研究

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-05126
• 负责人: Sipe, John
• 金额: $ 3.28万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=611456
• 关键词: Theoretical; research; nonlinear; quantum; optics

Light and matter: How do they interact? This is a proposal for a research program to investigate some of the quantum mechanical subtleties of photons and electrons -- the particles of light and electricity -- that arise when there are many electrons around, because the matter is condensed, and many photons around as well, due to the light being very intense. Remarkable things can happen. The presence of the electrons can cause some of the photons to split into two photons. These new photons are "entangled," as is said in the jargon of quantum mechanics, neither photon really being quite independent of the other even if they would propagate kilometres away from each other. This entanglement makes them a resource for processing information. But to do that we need many of them, and should be able to control them: they should be on a "chip," just as are the electrons we control to use for information processing. How do we make the photons there, control them there, and adjust their properties so they are interesting and useful? Will all the imperfections on a chip destroy their subtle connection with each other? What if one scatters off the chip? How would we do "quality control" on these chips if we were to make them? Can we add special elements to the chip that will give us more special photon states? Or could we just combine standard elements in a special way to get those special states? The electrons can behave in strange quantum mechanical ways too. When an electron is in a solid and a strong electric field is applied, it responds with an "effective mass" that can be quite different than its mass in free space, and reflects the effects of the underlying lattice. But it doesn't respond with this effective mass right away. As the very first it responds with its free space "bare mass." How does this happen? How long does it take for the "effective mass" to emerge? Are there other quantities that behave like that, taking their time to settle down when a force is applied? Will these effects be important in ultrafast electronics? If instead we let light act on the electrons in a solid, since quantum mechanics allows different possibilities to interfere with each other, just as water waves can, we can use the light to generate an interference that will send electrons in one direction or another, just as we choose. Can we use this to control currents in new nanostructure devices? Or at least to study how electrons move in these materials, by shooting them first in one direction and then in the other? Can we shoot spins too? This is using the light to control the electrons. But if the light is very intense will it be affected by the electrons in ways other than by making some of the photons split? Can we use these other effects to control the light, or change its color? Can we do this all on a chip too? Will novel materials help? Do we have all the underlying concepts we need to address these issues? As material and laser science progresses, leading to smaller and smaller solid state structures and shorter and shorter optical pulses, these kinds of phenomena will be crucial as photonics and electronics merge into a single field that may have a profound impact on both our science and technology. Behind all of them are fundamental issues in physics.

光与物质：它们如何相互作用？这是一个研究计划的建议，旨在研究光子和电子的量子力学微妙之处--光和电的粒子--当周围有许多电子时就会出现，因为物质是凝聚的，周围也有许多光子，因为光非常强烈。 会有奇迹发生。电子的存在会导致一些光子分裂成两个光子。这些新的光子是“纠缠的”，用量子力学的术语来说，即使它们传播的距离相距几公里，也没有一个光子是完全独立的。这种纠缠使它们成为处理信息的资源。但要做到这一点，我们需要许多电子，并且应该能够控制它们：它们应该在一个“芯片”上，就像我们控制用于信息处理的电子一样。我们如何在那里制造光子，控制它们，并调整它们的属性，使它们变得有趣和有用？芯片上的所有缺陷会破坏它们之间的微妙联系吗？如果一个人从芯片上散开了怎么办？如果我们要制造这些芯片，我们将如何对它们进行“质量控制”？我们能否在芯片中添加特殊元素，从而获得更多特殊的光子状态？或者我们可以仅仅用一种特殊的方式将标准元素联合收割机组合起来，得到那些特殊的状态吗？ 电子也可以以奇怪的量子力学方式运动。当电子处于固体中并施加强电场时，它会产生一个“有效质量”，该质量可能与其在自由空间中的质量大不相同，并反映了底层晶格的影响。但它不会马上以这个有效质量作出反应。作为第一个回应，它的自由空间“裸露的质量。“怎么会这样？“有效质量”出现需要多长时间？有没有其他的量也有类似的行为，当施加一个力的时候，它们需要时间来稳定下来？这些效应在超快电子学中会很重要吗？ 如果我们让光作用于固体中的电子，因为量子力学允许不同的可能性相互干扰，就像水波一样，我们可以利用光产生干涉，将电子发送到一个方向或另一个方向，就像我们选择的那样。我们能用它来控制新的纳米结构设备中的电流吗？或者至少研究电子如何在这些材料中运动，先向一个方向发射，然后再向另一个方向发射？我们也能打旋转球吗？这是用光来控制电子。但是，如果光非常强，除了使一些光子分裂之外，它还会受到电子的影响吗？我们可以使用这些其他的效果来控制灯光，或者改变它的颜色吗？我们也可以在芯片上实现这一切吗？新材料会有帮助吗？我们是否拥有解决这些问题所需的所有基本概念？ 随着材料和激光科学的进步，导致越来越小的固态结构和越来越短的光脉冲，这些现象将是至关重要的，因为光子学和电子学合并成一个单一的领域，可能对我们的科学和技术产生深远的影响。所有这些背后都是物理学的基本问题。