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Collective light-matter interaction in plasmonic waveguide quantum electrodynamics

Zahra Jalali-Mola and Saeid Asgarnezhad-Zorgabad*

  • *Contact author: sasgarnezhad93@gmail.com
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Phys. Rev. B 113, 165426 – Published 24 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8rw5-m26h

Abstract

Rabi oscillations characterize light-matter hybridization in the waveguide quantum electrodynamics (WQED) framework, with their associated decay rates reflecting excitation damping, yet their behavior remains unresolved when collective emitters are coupled to a collective waveguide mode. This scenario reveals a conceptually novel collective-light-collective-matter interaction, realizable when a timed-Dicke state of subwavelength emitters couples to a slow, delocalized surface-plasmon mode, forming a hybridized plasmon-polariton (HPP). The HPP acquires its directionality from the timed-Dicke state via momentum matching. It also exhibits plasmonic characteristics, with excitation frequencies following the surface-plasmon dispersion relation. We obtain a Rabi oscillation and a long-time decay that describe the HPP and use them to reveal weak- and strong-coupling regimes through the emergence of normal-mode splitting. By performing a finite-time Lyapunov-exponent analysis, we show that the HPP also exhibits instantaneous decay and numerically identify three distinct decay regimes: early-time rapid, transient-time oscillatory, and long-time classical. Finally, by analyzing the emission spectrum, we observe an anticrossing of the peak doublets—a feature also seen in cavity quantum electrodynamics setups—which originates from quantum vacuum effects and the resulting non-Markovian HPP evolution in our WQED.

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Phys. Rev. B 113, 165426– Published 24 April, 2026
  • Received 31 August 2025
  • Revised 20 February 2026
  • Accepted 1 April 2026
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