Physics Colloquium: Quantum nonlinear optics in atomic gases

Abstract:

Photonic systems nowadays can be engineered to exhibit rich optical response and exotic matter-like band structures. Unfortunately, photons – the fundamental constituents of light – do not interact strongly with one another and therefore cannot naturally be used to study many-body physics. It is only in the extreme regime of "quantum nonlinear optics" where effective interactions between photons are made strong. In an atomic gas, strong long-range interactions can be achieved by coupling photons to interacting atoms. This mechanism has been employed to realize photon-by-photon gates and transistors, and to observe the formation of two-photon bound states. The future holds promise for realizing quantum gases of interacting photons, optical quantum solitons, photon crystallization, many-body localization, and more.

Event Organizer: Prof. Alexander Palevsky