Fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking in high harmonic generation for bicircular quantum light

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Stammer, Philipp, Granados, Camilo, Rivera-Dean, Javier
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Stammer, Philipp
Granados, Camilo
Rivera-Dean, Javier
author_facet Stammer, Philipp
Granados, Camilo
Rivera-Dean, Javier
contents Symmetries are ubiquitous in physics and play a pivotal role in light-matter interactions, where they determine the selection rules governing allowed atomic transitions and define the associated conserved quantities. For the up-conversion process of high harmonic generation, the symmetries of the driving field determine the allowed frequencies and the polarization properties of the resulting harmonics. As a consequence, it is possible to establish classical selection rules when the process is driven by coherent radiation. In this work, we show that fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking in the driving field leads to the appearance of otherwise forbidden harmonics. This is achieved by considering bicircular quantum light, and demonstrate that the enhanced quantum fluctuations due to squeezing in the driving field break the classical selection rules. To this end, we develop a quantum optical description of the dynamical symmetries in the process of high harmonic generation, revealing corrections to the classical selection rules. Moreover, we show that the new harmonics show squeezing-like signatures in their photon statistics, allowing them to be clearly distinguished from classical thermal fluctuations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_24377
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking in high harmonic generation for bicircular quantum light
Stammer, Philipp
Granados, Camilo
Rivera-Dean, Javier
Quantum Physics
Optics
Symmetries are ubiquitous in physics and play a pivotal role in light-matter interactions, where they determine the selection rules governing allowed atomic transitions and define the associated conserved quantities. For the up-conversion process of high harmonic generation, the symmetries of the driving field determine the allowed frequencies and the polarization properties of the resulting harmonics. As a consequence, it is possible to establish classical selection rules when the process is driven by coherent radiation. In this work, we show that fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking in the driving field leads to the appearance of otherwise forbidden harmonics. This is achieved by considering bicircular quantum light, and demonstrate that the enhanced quantum fluctuations due to squeezing in the driving field break the classical selection rules. To this end, we develop a quantum optical description of the dynamical symmetries in the process of high harmonic generation, revealing corrections to the classical selection rules. Moreover, we show that the new harmonics show squeezing-like signatures in their photon statistics, allowing them to be clearly distinguished from classical thermal fluctuations.
title Fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking in high harmonic generation for bicircular quantum light
topic Quantum Physics
Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24377