Formation of Matter-Wave Polaritons in an Optical Lattice

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kwon, Joonhyuk, Kim, Youngshin, Lanuza, Alfonso, Schneble, Dominik
Format: Preprint
Published: 2021
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_version_ 1866929282709716992
author Kwon, Joonhyuk
Kim, Youngshin
Lanuza, Alfonso
Schneble, Dominik
author_facet Kwon, Joonhyuk
Kim, Youngshin
Lanuza, Alfonso
Schneble, Dominik
contents The polariton, a quasiparticle formed by strong coupling of a photon to a matter excitation, is a fundamental ingredient of emergent photonic quantum systems ranging from semiconductor nanophotonics to circuit quantum electrodynamics. Exploiting the interaction between polaritons has led to the realization of superfluids of light as well as of strongly correlated phases in the microwave domain, with similar efforts underway for microcavity exciton-polaritons. Here, we develop an ultracold-atom analogue of an exciton-polariton system in which interacting polaritonic phases can be studied with full tunability and without dissipation. In our optical-lattice system, the exciton is replaced by an atomic excitation, while an atomic matter wave is substituted for the photon under a strong dynamical coupling. We access the band structure of the matter-wave polariton spectroscopically by coupling the upper and lower polariton branches, and explore polaritonic many-body transport in the superfluid and Mott-insulating regimes, finding quantitative agreement with our theoretical expectations. Our work opens up novel possibilities for studies of polaritonic quantum matter.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2109_02243
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Formation of Matter-Wave Polaritons in an Optical Lattice
Kwon, Joonhyuk
Kim, Youngshin
Lanuza, Alfonso
Schneble, Dominik
Quantum Gases
Quantum Physics
The polariton, a quasiparticle formed by strong coupling of a photon to a matter excitation, is a fundamental ingredient of emergent photonic quantum systems ranging from semiconductor nanophotonics to circuit quantum electrodynamics. Exploiting the interaction between polaritons has led to the realization of superfluids of light as well as of strongly correlated phases in the microwave domain, with similar efforts underway for microcavity exciton-polaritons. Here, we develop an ultracold-atom analogue of an exciton-polariton system in which interacting polaritonic phases can be studied with full tunability and without dissipation. In our optical-lattice system, the exciton is replaced by an atomic excitation, while an atomic matter wave is substituted for the photon under a strong dynamical coupling. We access the band structure of the matter-wave polariton spectroscopically by coupling the upper and lower polariton branches, and explore polaritonic many-body transport in the superfluid and Mott-insulating regimes, finding quantitative agreement with our theoretical expectations. Our work opens up novel possibilities for studies of polaritonic quantum matter.
title Formation of Matter-Wave Polaritons in an Optical Lattice
topic Quantum Gases
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.02243