Studies of Waveguide-QED Analogues with Matter-wave Quantum Emitters in Optical Lattices

利用光与物质之间的相互作用是量子光学和新兴量子技术的中心主题。波导- qed（量子电动力学）提供了一个最新的框架，其中这种相互作用，即引导光子（光粒子）和基本量子发射器（真实或人造原子）之间的相互作用，通过两者相互作用的环境的结构和几何来控制和设计。在之前的NSF奖下的工作已经证明了在超冷原子背景下研究波导qed效应的新实验平台的实施。在这里，光学晶格（即由光构成的晶体）的阱充当量子发射器，而引导原子物质波则扮演光的角色。作为光波导qed的物质波模拟，该平台提供了精细的可调性和相关参数的控制，并获得了新的几何形状，这是难以实现的。该项目将研究发射器能量、相互作用和几何的相互作用，以研究波导qed中的基本问题，例如量子发射器如何与工程环境相互作用，它们如何相互作用，以及相互作用会产生什么新现象。因此，该项目将提供对奇异材料系统的量子模拟的一瞥，这可以指导未来的技术努力。该项目建立在先前nsf支持的工作基础上，致力于研究光子晶体波导中自发发射现象的物质波类似物，使用状态选择光学晶格中的物质波量子发射器阵列。在这个最近展示的平台中，发射器的激发能和它们的真空耦合的自由可调性使得探索标准量子光学系统可及和不可及的各种新效应成为可能。该项目旨在研究具有多个谱隙和奇点的一维和高维环境中的马尔可夫和非马尔可夫发射动力学。此外，该项目旨在表征由准粒子输运的动态束缚态介导的发射器之间的相干耦合和相互作用的多体相的形成，并利用碰撞相互作用产生的一些独特特征。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Harnessing the interaction between light and matter is a central topic in quantum optics and emergent quantum technologies. Waveguide-QED (quantum electrodynamics) provides a recent framework in which such interactions, i.e. those between guided photons (particles of light) and elementary quantum emitters (real or artificial atoms), are controlled and engineered through the structure and geometry of the environment in which the two interact. Work under the preceding NSF award has demonstrated the implementation of a novel experimental platform for studies of waveguide-QED effects in the context of ultracold atoms. Here, the wells of an optical lattice (i.e. a crystal made of light) act as quantum emitters, while guided atomic matter waves play the role of light. As a matter-wave analogue of optical waveguide-QED, this platform offers exquisite tunability and control of the relevant parameters along with access to novel geometries, which are difficult to realize otherwise. The project will investigate the interplay of emitter energies, interactions and geometry to study fundamental questions in waveguide-QED, such as how quantum emitters interact with an engineered environment, how they interact with each other, and what novel phenomena can result from the interaction. The project will thereby offer a glimpse at the quantum simulation of exotic material systems, which can guide future technological efforts. The project, which builds on prior NSF-supported work, is devoted to studies of matter-wave analogues of spontaneous-emission phenomena in photonic-crystal waveguides, using arrays of matter-wave quantum emitters in a state-selective optical lattice. The free tunability of both the excitation energy of the emitters and their vacuum coupling in this recently demonstrated platform enables the exploration of a wide range of novel effects across regimes both accessible and inaccessible to standard quantum optical systems. The project aims to investigate Markovian and non-Markovian emission dynamics into one- and higher-dimensional environments that feature multiple spectral gaps and singularities. Furthermore, the project seeks to characterize coherent couplings between emitters mediated by a dynamical bound state via quasiparticle transport and the formation of interacting many-body phases, and to exploit some of the unique features arising from collisional interactions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.