We demonstrate that a slot waveguide provides a broadband loss-free platform suitable for applications in quantum optics. We find that strong coupling between light quanta and a single quantum emitter placed in the waveguide slot can be achieved with efficiency higher than 96% and Purcell factor (spontaneous emission factor) larger than 200. The proposed system is a promising platform for quantum information processing and can be used to realize an efficient single photon source and optically addressable photon register.

By combining our theoretical calculation and the recently measured electric quadrupole hyperfine-structure constant of the $3d{{}^{2}D}_{5/2}$ state in the singly ionized ${}^{43}\text{C}\text{a}$, we determine its nuclear quadrupole moment to 1% accuracy. The obtained result, $-0.0444\left(6\right)b$, is about 10% more accurate over its current accepted value. We have employed the relativistic coupled-cluster theory at the single and double excitations level to calculate the atomic wave functions. The accuracy of these wave functions is estimated by comparing our calculated magnetic dipole hyperfine constants with their corresponding available experimental results of many low-lying states. We also present hyperfine-structure constants for other higher excited states where experimental results are not reported. The role of the Breit interaction has been investigated in these properties.

The ionization of the $3p$ orbital of argon by incident electrons and positrons is studied by means of the post version of the continuum distorted wave–eikonal initial-state model. Results are presented at both 200 and 500 eV impact energies for conditions amenable to present experiments. Differences in the fully differential cross sections (FDCSs) are analyzed and the influence of the projectile charge sign on the emission dynamics is discussed. The FDCSs are found to display the classic binary plus recoil peak structure at 500 eV, but transition to a more complicated four-lobed structure at the lower impact energy.

Multiphoton single-ionization of a two-electron system (He and He-like ions) in intense circularly polarized laser field is reported in a relativistic field theoretic method. Coulomb-correction factor is introduced to estimate the effect of the Coulomb field of the residual ion on the rate. Antisymmetric wave function is considered both in the initial and in the final state. The spin-specific currents are calculated. Angular asymmetry in current generation is noted with the change in the spin direction of the ionized electron. Coulomb-corrected relativistic-result for total rate is compared with the Coulomb-corrected nonrelativistic KFR rate. At the high-intensity regime nonrelativistic rate overestimates the relativistic rate. Formation of orthopositronium and parapositronium from positronium negative ion by multiphoton ionization is discussed.

Cold fermionic atoms with three different hyperfine states confined in optical lattices show pronounced atomic density waves (ADWs). These ADWs are pinned due to the confining potential that traps the atoms in the optical lattice and can be considered a crystal phase of strongly bound trions (CPT). We show that the crystalline phase is incompressible and robust against anisotropic interactions. We also show that it is generic in the presence of the trap due to its incompressibility. Numeric density matrix renormalization group calculations show evidence of a crossover between a trionic superfluid and the CPT state as a function of the strength of the interaction and as a function of the anisotropy of the interaction.

We investigate the dynamics of dark solitons in one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates. In the large particle limit, by introducing the lens-type transformation, we find that the macroscopic wave function evolves self-similarly when its initial profile strays from that of the equilibrium state, which provides a time-varying background for the propagation of dark solitons. The interaction of dark solitons with this kind of background is studied both analytically and numerically. We find that the center-of-mass motion of the dark soliton is deeply affected by the time-varying background, and the beating phenomena of dark soliton emerge when the intrinsic frequency of the dark soliton approaches that of the background. Lastly, we investigate the propagation of dark solitons in the freely expanding background.

We investigate the evolution of an intense femtosecond laser pulse in prealigned molecules of nitrogen following impulsive rotational Raman excitation by a weak pump pulse. The spatiotemporal and spectral dynamics of the probe pulse are readily controlled by matching the delay between pump and probe to various revivals of the molecular alignment. This control allows for intense filamentation of the probe and generation of self-shortened few-cycle pulses with angular spectra featuring shock $\mathsf{X}$-waves. We identify the phase modulation originating from the sharp revivals of the molecular alignment as responsible for the generation of controllable rising or falling shock edges associated with on-axis redshifted or blueshifted supercontinuum spectrum and off-axis blueshifted or redshifted tails. Pulse self-steepening promotes the formation of the conical emission associated with the off-axis red tails, the blueshifted supercontinuum and the shock in the trailing part of the pulse.

We present a coupled-cavity model of a laser with frequency-selective feedback, and use it to analyze and explain the existence of stationary and dynamic spatial solitons in the device. Particular features of soliton addressing in this system are discussed. We demonstrate the advantages of our model with respect to the common Lang-Kobayashi approximation.

The dynamics of a semiconductor laser with an intracavity atomic absorber is studied numerically. The study is motivated by the experiments of Barbosa et al. [Opt. Lett. 32, 1869 (2007)], using a semiconductor junction as an active medium, with its output face being antireflection coated, and a cell containing cesium vapor placed in a cavity that was closed by a diffraction grating (DG). The DG allowed scanning the lasing frequency across the $D_2$ line in the Cs spectrum, and different regimes such as frequency bistability or dynamic instability were observed depending on the operating conditions. Here we propose a rate-equation model that takes into account the dispersive losses and the dispersive refractive index change in the laser cavity caused by the presence of the Cs vapor cell. These effects are described through a modification of the complex susceptibility. The numerical results are found to be in qualitative good agreement with some of the observations; however, some discrepancies are also noticed, which can be attributed to multi-longitudinal-mode emission in the experiments. The simulations clearly show the relevant role of the Lamb dips and crossover resonances, which arise on top of the Doppler-broadened $D_2$ line in the Cs spectrum, and are due to the forward and backward intracavity fields interacting resonantly with the Cs atoms. When the laser frequency is locked in a dip, a reduction in the frequency noise and of the intensity noise is demonstrated.

We present a transport equation for the incoherent propagation of radiation inside a quasiresonant atomic gas at low temperature. The derivation is based on a generalized Bethe-Salpeter equation taking into account the motion of the atoms. The obtained equation is similar to the radiative transfer equation. It is solved numerically by an original Monte Carlo approach in the case of a slab geometry. The partial frequency redistribution caused by the small velocity of the scatterers makes the emitted flux outside the system and the energy density inside the medium to behave differently than in the case of complete frequency redistribution. In particular, the long time dependence of the specific intensity (escape factor) is slightly different from the Holstein prediction.

We compute the entanglement between separated blocks in certain spin models showing that at criticality this entanglement is a function of the ratio of the separation to the length of the blocks and can be written as a product of a power law and an exponential decay. It thereby interpolates between the entanglement of individual spins and blocks of spins. It captures features of correlation functions at criticality as well as the monogamous nature of entanglement. We exemplify invariant features of this entanglement to microscopic changes within the same universality class. We find this entanglement to be invariant with respect to simultaneous scale transformations of the separation and the length of the blocks. As a corollary, this Rapid Communication estimates the entanglement between separated regions of those quantum fields to which the considered spin models map at criticality.

We propose an approach to measuring coupled systems, which gives a parametrically smaller error than the conventional fast projective measurements. The measurement error is due to the excitations being not entirely localized on individual systems even where the excitation energies are different. Our approach combines spectral selectivity of the detector with temporal resolution and uses the ideas of the quantum diffusion theory. The results bear on quantum computing with perpetually coupled qubits.

We present a method to compute Casimir forces in arbitrary geometries and for arbitrary materials based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) scheme. The method involves the time evolution of electric and magnetic fields in response to a set of current sources, in a modified medium with frequency-independent conductivity. The advantage of this approach is that it allows one to exploit existing FDTD software, without modification, to compute Casimir forces. In this paper, we focus on the derivation, implementation choices, and essential properties of the time-domain algorithm, both considered analytically and illustrated in the simplest parallel-plate geometry.

In this work we present solid-state nuclear magnetic-resonance experiments to study decoherence in the dynamics of many-spin systems. We characterize the global Loschmidt echo and the distribution of multiple-quantum coherence orders during the evolution under dipolar and double-quantum Hamiltonians. To study an infinite ${}^1\text{H}$ system and a closed cluster of nuclear spins we use polycrystalline adamantane and the liquid crystal 5CB in the nematic mesophase, respectively, as model systems. The infinite or finite nature of the system is clearly manifested through spin counting measurements. Comparison between experimental and numerical results gives insights on the decoherence mechanisms in these systems. Contrastingly, the dominating mechanism in 5CB affects all coherence orders in the same way, while in adamantane higher orders of coherence decay faster than the lower ones.

Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) driven with pulses of optimum shape and delay has the potential of reaching fidelities high enough to make it suitable for quantum-information processing. The optimum pulse shapes are obtained upon reduction of STIRAP to effective two-state systems. We use the Dykhne-Davis-Pechukas (DDP) method to minimize nonadiabatic transitions and to maximize the fidelity of STIRAP. This results in a particular relation between the pulse shapes of the two fields driving the Raman process. The DDP-optimized version of STIRAP maintains its robustness against variations in the pulse intensities and durations, the single-photon detuning, and possible losses from the intermediate state.

We consider the theory of feedback control of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) confined in a harmonic trap under a continuous measurement constructed via nondestructive imaging. A filtering theory approach is used to derive a stochastic master equation (SME) for the system from a general Hamiltonian based upon system-bath coupling. Numerical solutions for this SME in the limit of a single atom show that the final steady-state energy is dependent upon the measurement strength, the ratio of photon kinetic energy to atomic kinetic energy, and the feedback strength. Simulations indicate that for a weak measurement strength, feedback can be used to overcome heating introduced by the scattering of light, thereby allowing the atom to be driven toward the ground state.

We introduce matter-wave vector azimuthons, i.e., spatially localized vortex states with azimuthal modulations of density, in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates. These localized states generalize spatially modulated vortex solitons introduced earlier in nonlinear optics [A. S. Desyatnikov, A. A. Sukhorukov, and Yu. S. Kivshar, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 203904 (2005)] and Bose-Einstein condensates [V. M. Lashkin, Phys. Rev. A 77, 025602 (2008)]. We find, numerically, nonrotating and rotating two-component azimuthons in a Bose-Einstein condensate with a negative scattering length confined by a quasi-two-dimensional parabolic trap.

We consider the modal fields and resonance frequencies of composite defects in two-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs). Using an asymptotic method based on Green’s functions, we show that the coupling matrices for the composite defect can be represented as circulant or block-circulant matrices. Using the properties of these matrices, specifically that their eigenvectors are independent of the values of the matrix elements, we obtain modal properties such as dispersion relations, modal cutoff, degeneracy, and symmetry of the mode fields. Using our formulation, we investigate defects arranged on the vertices of regular polygons as well as PC ring resonators with defects arranged on the edges of polygons. Finally, we discuss the impact of band-edge degeneracies on composite-defect modes.

We report results of a systematic analysis of the stability of one-dimensional solitons in a model including the self-repulsive or attractive cubic nonlinearity and a linear potential represented by a periodically shaking lattice, which was recently implemented in experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates. In optics, the same model applies to undulated waveguiding arrays, which are also available to the experiment. In the case of the repulsive nonlinearity, stability regions are presented, in relevant parameter planes, for fundamental gap solitons and their two-peak and three-peak bound complexes, in the first and second finite band gaps. In the model with the attractive nonlinearity, stability regions are produced for fundamental solitons and their bound states populating the semi-infinite gap. In the first finite and semi-infinite gaps, unstable solitons gradually decay into radiation, while, in the second finite band gap, they are transformed into more complex states, which may represent new species of solitons. For a large amplitude of the rocking-lattice drive, the model is tantamount to that with a “flashing” lattice potential, which is controlled by periodic sequences of instantaneous kicks. Using this correspondence, we explain generic features of the stability diagrams for the solitons. We also derive a limit case of the latter system, in the form of coupled-mode equations with a “flashing” linear coupling.

We discuss an effective numerical method of density matrix determination of fiber coupled single photon generated in process of spontaneous parametric down conversion in type I noncollinear configuration. The presented theory has been successfully applied in case of source utilized to demonstrate the experimental characterization of spectral state of single photon, what was reported in Wasilewski, Kolenderski, and Frankowski [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 123601 (2007)].