We examine the lateral Casimir-Polder force acting on a circular rotating emitter near a dielectric plane surface. As the circular motion breaks time-reversal symmetry, the spontaneous emission in a direction parallel to the surface is in general anisotropic. We show that a lateral force arises which can be interpreted as a recoil force because of this asymmetric emission. The force is an oscillating function of the distance between the emitter and the surface, and the lossy character of the dielectric strongly influences the results in the near-field regime. The force exhibits also a population-induced dynamics, decaying exponentially with respect to time on time scales of the inverse of the spontaneous decay rate. We propose that this effect could be detected measuring the velocity acquired by the emitter, following different cycles of excitation and spontaneous decay. Our results are expressed in terms of the Green's tensor and can therefore easily be applied to more complex geometries.

We investigate multiparticle excitation effect on a collective density excitation as well as a single-particle excitation in a weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). We find that although the weakly interacting BEC offers weak multiparticle excitation spectrum at low temperatures, this multiparticle excitation effect may not remain hidden, but emerges as bimodality in the density response function through the single-particle excitation. Identification of spectra in the BEC between the single-particle excitation and the density excitation is also assessed at nonzero temperatures, which has been known to be unique nature in the BEC at absolute zero temperature.

We study the fluorescence spectrum of a strongly driven two-level system (TLS) with modulated transition frequency, which is a bichromatically driven TLS and has multiple resonance frequencies. We are aiming to provide a reliable description of the fluorescence in a regime that is difficult to tackle with perturbation theory and the rotating-wave approximation (RWA), and illustrate the spectral features of the fluorescence under off- and multiphoton-resonance conditions. To go beyond the RWA, we use a semianalytical counter-rotating-hybridized rotating-wave method that combines a unitary transformation and Floquet theory to calculate the two-mode Floquet states and quasienergies for the bichromatically driven TLS. We then solve the master equation accounting for the spontaneous decay in the bases of the two-mode Floquet states, and derive a physically transparent fluorescence spectrum. In comparison with the numerically exact spectrum from the generalized Floquet-Liouville approach, the present spectrum is found to be applicable in a wide range of the parameters where the RWA and the secular approximation may break down. We find that the counter-rotating (CR) terms of the transverse field omitted in the RWA have non-negligible contributions to the spectrum under certain conditions. Particularly, at the multiphoton resonance the width of which is comparable with the Bloch-Siegert shift, the RWA and non-RWA spectra markedly differ from each other because of the CR-induced shift. We also analyze the symmetry of the spectrum in terms of the transition matrix elements between the two-mode Floquet states. We show that the strict symmetry of the spectrum cannot be expected without the RWA but the almost symmetric spectrum can be obtained at the single-photon resonance that takes the Bloch-Siegert shift into account if the driving is moderately strong and at the multiphoton resonance with a sufficiently weak transverse field.

We demonstrate an adiabatic wavelength redshift using dynamic carrier depletion. Free carriers are first induced through two-photon absorption of a control pulse and then extracted by a reverse-biased p-i-n diode formed on a Si photonic crystal waveguide, resulting in rapid carrier depletion. A copropagating signal pulse is redshifted by the consequent increase in refractive index. We experimentally evaluated the dynamics of the carrier depletion by the pump-probe method and explored suitable conditions for adiabatic redshift. The signal's redshift was observed, and was confirmed to originate in the dynamic carrier depletion. The redshift was experimentally determined as 0.21 nm.

We propose and analyze an efficient scheme for the lopsided Raman-Nath diffraction of one-dimensional ($1\mathrm{D}$) and two-dimensional ($2\mathrm{D}$) atomic gratings with periodic parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$)-symmetric refractive index. The atomic grating is constructed by the cold-atomic vapor with two isotopes of rubidium, which is driven by weak probe field and space-dependent control field. Using experimentally achievable parameters, we identify the conditions under which $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric refractive index allows us to observe the lopsided Raman-Nath diffraction phenomenon and improve the diffraction efficiencies beyond what is achievable in a conventional atomic grating. The nontrivial atomic grating is a superposition of an amplitude grating and a phase grating. It is found that the lopsided Raman-Nath diffraction at the exceptional point (EP) of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric grating originates from constructive and destructive interferences between the amplitude and phase gratings. Furthermore, we show that the $\mathcal{PT}$-phase transition from unbroken to broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regimes can modify the asymmetric distribution of the diffraction spectrum and that the diffraction efficiencies in the non-negative diffraction orders can be significantly enhanced when the atomic grating is pushed into a broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phase. In addition, we also analyze the influence of the grating thickness on the diffraction spectrum. Our scheme may provide the possibility to design a gain-beam splitter with tunable splitting ratio and other optical components in integrated optics.

In a seminal paper [Phys. Rev. D 27, 2885 (1983)], Page and Wootters suggest that time evolution could be described solely in terms of correlations between systems and clocks, as a means of dealing with the “problem of time” stemming from vanishing Hamiltonian dynamics in many theories of quantum gravity. Their approach seeks to identify relational dynamics given a Hamiltonian constraint on the physical states. Here we present a “state-centric” reformulation of the Page and Wootters model better suited to cases where the Hamiltonian constraint is satisfied, such as anyons emerging in Chern–Simons theories. We describe relational time by encoding logical “clock” qubits into topologically protected anyonic degrees of freedom. The minimum temporal increment of such anyonic clocks is determined by the universality of the anyonic braid group, with nonuniversal models naturally exhibiting discrete time. We exemplify this approach by using $\mathrm{SU}{\left(2\right)}_2$ anyons and discuss generalizations to other states and models.

We investigate the ground-state properties of a dual-species spin-1/2 Bose-Einstein condensate. One of the species is subjected to a pair of Raman laser beams that induces spin-orbit (SO) coupling, whereas the other species is not coupled to the Raman laser. In certain limits, analytical results can be obtained. It is clearly shown that, through the interspecies spin-exchange interaction, the second species also exhibits SO coupling. This mixture system displays a very rich phase diagram, with many of the phases not present in an SO-coupled single-species condensate. Our work provides a way of creating SO coupling in atomic quantum gases, and opens up an avenue of research in SO-coupled superfluid mixtures. From a practical point of view, the spin-exchange-induced SO coupling may overcome the heating issue for certain atomic species when subjected to Raman beams.

The dynamics of an electronic two-level system coupled to an electromagnetic field are simulated explicitly for one- and three-dimensional systems through semiclassical propagation of the Maxwell-Liouville equations. We consider three flavors of mixed quantum-classical dynamics: (i) the classical path approximation (CPA), (ii) Ehrenfest dynamics, and (iii) symmetrical quasiclassical (SQC) dynamics. Our findings are as follows: (i) The CPA fails to recover a consistent description of spontaneous emission, (ii) a consistent “spontaneous” emission can be obtained from Ehrenfest dynamics, provided that one starts in an electronic superposition state, and (iii) spontaneous emission is always obtained using SQC dynamics. Using the SQC and Ehrenfest frameworks, we further calculate the dynamics following an incoming pulse, but here we find very different responses: SQC and Ehrenfest dynamics deviate sometimes strongly in the calculated rate of decay of the transient excited state. Nevertheless, our work confirms the earlier observations by Miller [J. Chem. Phys. 69, 2188 (1978)] that Ehrenfest dynamics can effectively describe some aspects of spontaneous emission and highlights interesting possibilities for studying light-matter interactions with semiclassical mechanics.

The device-independent approach to physics is one where conclusions are drawn directly from the observed correlations between measurement outcomes. In quantum information, this approach allows one to make strong statements about the properties of the underlying systems or devices solely via the observation of Bell-inequality-violating correlations. However, since one can only perform a finite number of experimental trials, statistical fluctuations necessarily accompany any estimation of these correlations. Consequently, an important gap remains between the many theoretical tools developed for the asymptotic scenario and the experimentally obtained raw data. In particular, a physical and concurrently practical way to estimate the underlying quantum distribution has so far remained elusive. Here, we show that the natural analogs of the maximum-likelihood estimation technique and the least-square-error estimation technique in the device-independent context result in point estimates of the true distribution that are physical, unique, computationally tractable, and consistent. They thus serve as sound algorithmic tools allowing one to bridge the aforementioned gap. As an application, we demonstrate how such estimates of the underlying quantum distribution can be used to provide, in certain cases, trustworthy estimates of the amount of entanglement present in the measured system. In stark contrast to existing approaches to device-independent parameter estimations, our estimation does not require the prior knowledge of any Bell inequality tailored for the specific property and the specific distribution of interest.

The Barenco gate ($\mathbb{B}$) is a type of two-qubit quantum gate based on which alone universal quantum computation can be achieved. Each $\mathbb{B}$ is characterized by three angles ($\alpha$, $\theta$, and $\varphi$), though it works in a two-qubit Hilbert space. Here we design $\mathbb{B}$ via a noncollinear interaction $V|r_1{r}_2\rangle \langle r_1{r}_3|+\mathrm{H}.\mathrm{c}.$, where $|r_i\rangle$ is a state that can be excited from a qubit state and $V$ is adjustable. We present two protocols for $\mathbb{B}$. The first (second) protocol consists of two (six) pulses and one (two) wait period(s), where the former causes rotations between qubit states and excited states, and the latter induces gate transformation via the noncollinear interaction. In the first protocol, the variable $\varphi$ can be tuned by varying the phases of external controls, and the other two variables $\alpha$ and $\theta$, tunable via adjustment of the wait duration, have a linear dependence on each other. Meanwhile, the first protocol can give rise to cnot and controlled-y gates. In the second protocol, $\alpha ,\theta$, and $\varphi$ can be varied by changing the interaction amplitudes and wait durations, and the latter two are dependent on $\alpha$ nonlinearly. Both protocols can also lead to another universal gate when $\{\alpha ,\varphi \}=\{1/4,1/2\}\pi$ with appropriate parameters. Implementation of these universal gates is analyzed based on the van der Waals interaction of neutral Rydberg atoms.

We investigate the performance of several continuous-variable quantum key distribution protocols in the presence of uniform fading channels. These are lossy channels whose transmissivity changes according to a uniform probability distribution. We assume the worst-case scenario where an eavesdropper induces a fast-fading process, where she chooses the instantaneous transmissivity while the remote parties may only detect the mean statistical effect. We analyze coherent-state protocols in various configurations, including the one-way switching protocol in reverse reconciliation, the measurement-device-independent protocol in the symmetric configuration, and its extension to a three-party network. We show that, regardless of the advantage given to the eavesdropper (control of the fading), these protocols can still achieve high rates under realistic attacks, within reasonable values for the variance of the probability distribution associated with the fading process.

We introduce a family of quantum key distribution protocols for distributing shared random keys within a network of $n$ users. The advantage of these protocols is that any possible key structure needed within the network, including broadcast keys shared among subsets of users, can be implemented by using a particular multipartite high-dimensionally entangled quantum state. This approach is more efficient in the number of quantum channel uses than conventional quantum key distribution using bipartite links. Additionally, multipartite high-dimensional quantum states are becoming readily available in quantum photonic labs, making the proposed protocols implementable using current technology.

Multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock (MCHF) and multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock (MCDHF) calculations are performed for the $2p^5{}^{2}P^o$, $2p^4{(}^{3}P)3s{}^{4}P$, $2p^4{(}^{3}P)3s{}^{2}P$, and $2p^4{(}^{3}P)3p{}^4{S}^o$ states of ${}^{19}\mathrm{F}$ i to determine their hyperfine constants. Several computing strategies are considered to investigate electron correlation and relativistic effects. High-order correlation contributions are included in MCHF calculations based on single and double multireference expansions. The largest components of the single reference MCHF wave functions are selected to define the multireference (MR) sets. In this scheme, relativistic corrections are evaluated in the Breit-Pauli approximation. A similar strategy is used for the calculation of MCDHF relativistic wave functions and hyperfine parameters. While correlation and relativistic corrections are found to be rather small for the ground state, we highlight large relativistic effects on the hyperfine constant $A_{3/2}$ of $2p^4{(}^{3}P)3p{}^4{S}^o$ and, to a lesser extent, on $A_{1/2}$ of $2p^4{(}^{3}P)3s{}^{4}P$. As expected for such a light system, electron correlation effects dominate over relativity in the calculation of the hyperfine interaction of all other levels considered. We also revisit the hyperfine constants of $2p^3{(}^{4}S)3s{}^{5}S^o$ and $2p^3{(}^{4}S)3p{}^{5}P$ in ${}^{17}\mathrm{O}$ using similar strategies. The results are found to be in excellent agreement with experiment.

The unexpected emerging stability of a time-modulated magnetic guide, realized without external offset fields, is demonstrated. We found a steady periodic solution around which the nonlinear dynamics is linearized. To investigate the orbital stability of the guiding, a formal criterion based on the analysis of the eigenvalues of the monodromy matrix of the system dynamics is used. To circumvent the difficulty in finding an analytical expression for these eigenvalues, a Lyapunov transformation of the system variables is proposed. From this transformation, an equation of state for the system parameters is derived, and it allows one to estimate an upper bound for the computed stability domains. In particular, we found a general expression for the threshold modulation frequency below which the guiding is unstable. Using experimentally accessible parameters, the stable guiding of ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms is investigated.

We show multiple electromechanically-induced transparency (EMIT) windows in a hybrid nano-electro-optomechanical system in the presence of two-level atoms coupled to a single-mode cavity field. The multiple EMIT-window profile can be observed by controlling the atom field coupling as well as Coulomb coupling between the two charged mechanical resonators. We derive the analytical expression of the multiple-EMIT-windows profile and describe the splitting of multiple EMIT windows as a function of optomechanical coupling, atom-field coupling, and Coulomb coupling. In particular, we discuss the robustness of the system against the cavity decay rate. We compare the results of identical mechanical resonators to different mechanical resonators. We further show how the hybrid nano-electro-optomechanics coupled system can lead to the splitting of the multiple Fano resonances (MFR). The Fano resonances are very sensitive to decay terms in such systems, i.e., atoms, cavities, and the mechanical resonators.

Soliton crystals are periodic patterns of multispot optical fields formed from either time or space entanglements of equally separated identical high-intensity pulses. These specific nonlinear optical structures have gained interest in recent years with the advent and progress in nonlinear optical fibers and fiber lasers, photonic crystals, wave-guided wave systems, and most recently optical ring microresonator devices. In this work an extensive analysis of characteristic features of soliton crystals is carried out, with an emphasis on their one-to-one correspondence with elliptic solitons. With this purpose in mind, we examine their formation, their stability, and their dynamics in ring-shaped nonlinear optical media within the framework of the Lugiato-Lefever equation. The stability analysis deals with internal modes of the system via a $2\times 2$-matrix Lamé-type eigenvalue problem, the spectrum of which is shown to possess a rich set of bound states consisting of stable zero-fequency modes and unstable decaying as well as growing modes. Turning towards the dynamics of elliptic solitons in ring-shaped fiber resonators with Kerr nonlinearity, we first propose a collective-coordinate approach, based on a Lagrangian formalism suitable for elliptic-soliton solutions to the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with an arbitrary perturbation. Next we derive time evolutions of elliptic-soliton parameters in the specific context of ring-shaped optical fiber resonators, where the optical field evolution is thought to be governed by the Lugiato-Lefever equation. By solving numerically the collective-coordinate equations an analysis of the amplitude, the position, the phase of internal oscillations, the phase velocity, the energy, and phase portraits of the amplitude is carried out and reveals a complex dynamics of the elliptic soliton in ring-shaped optical microresonators. Direct numerical simulations of the Lugiato-Lefever equation are also carried out seeking for stationary-wave solutions, and the numerical results are in very good agreement with the collective-coordinate approach.

We theoretically investigate two-photon excitation by spectrally shaped entangled photons with energy anticorrelation in terms of how the real excitation of an intermediate state affects two-photon absorption by entangled photons. Spectral holes are introduced in the entangled photons around the energy levels of an intermediate state so that two-step excitation via the real excitation of the intermediated state can be suppressed. Using a three-level atomic system as an example, we show that the spectral holes well suppress the real excitation of the intermediate state and recover two-photon absorption via a virtual state. Furthermore, for a short pulse close to a monocycle, we show that the excitation efficiency by the spectrally shaped entangled photons can be enhanced a thousand times as large as that by uncorrelated photons.