Free-Space Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Rydberg Superatom
The interaction of a single photon with an individual two-level system is the textbook example of quantum electrodynamics. Achieving strong coupling in this system has so far required confinement of the light field inside resonators or waveguides. Here, we demonstrate strong coherent coupling betwee...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Physical Review X |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.041010 |
| _version_ | 1829495709612638208 |
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| author | Asaf Paris-Mandoki Christoph Braun Jan Kumlin Christoph Tresp Ivan Mirgorodskiy Florian Christaller Hans Peter Büchler Sebastian Hofferberth |
| author_facet | Asaf Paris-Mandoki Christoph Braun Jan Kumlin Christoph Tresp Ivan Mirgorodskiy Florian Christaller Hans Peter Büchler Sebastian Hofferberth |
| author_sort | Asaf Paris-Mandoki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The interaction of a single photon with an individual two-level system is the textbook example of quantum electrodynamics. Achieving strong coupling in this system has so far required confinement of the light field inside resonators or waveguides. Here, we demonstrate strong coherent coupling between a single Rydberg superatom, consisting of thousands of atoms behaving as a single two-level system because of the Rydberg blockade, and a propagating light pulse containing only a few photons. The strong light-matter coupling, in combination with the direct access to the outgoing field, allows us to observe, for the first time, the effect of the interactions on the driving field at the single-photon level. We find that all our results are in quantitative agreement with the predictions of the theory of a single two-level system strongly coupled to a single quantized propagating light mode. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:16:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ecc0c5fb70e64f30b6edbdebba30918b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2160-3308 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:16:36Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review X |
| spelling | doaj.art-ecc0c5fb70e64f30b6edbdebba30918b2022-12-21T22:39:46ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review X2160-33082017-10-017404101010.1103/PhysRevX.7.041010Free-Space Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Rydberg SuperatomAsaf Paris-MandokiChristoph BraunJan KumlinChristoph TrespIvan MirgorodskiyFlorian ChristallerHans Peter BüchlerSebastian HofferberthThe interaction of a single photon with an individual two-level system is the textbook example of quantum electrodynamics. Achieving strong coupling in this system has so far required confinement of the light field inside resonators or waveguides. Here, we demonstrate strong coherent coupling between a single Rydberg superatom, consisting of thousands of atoms behaving as a single two-level system because of the Rydberg blockade, and a propagating light pulse containing only a few photons. The strong light-matter coupling, in combination with the direct access to the outgoing field, allows us to observe, for the first time, the effect of the interactions on the driving field at the single-photon level. We find that all our results are in quantitative agreement with the predictions of the theory of a single two-level system strongly coupled to a single quantized propagating light mode.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.041010 |
| spellingShingle | Asaf Paris-Mandoki Christoph Braun Jan Kumlin Christoph Tresp Ivan Mirgorodskiy Florian Christaller Hans Peter Büchler Sebastian Hofferberth Free-Space Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Rydberg Superatom Physical Review X |
| title | Free-Space Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Rydberg Superatom |
| title_full | Free-Space Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Rydberg Superatom |
| title_fullStr | Free-Space Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Rydberg Superatom |
| title_full_unstemmed | Free-Space Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Rydberg Superatom |
| title_short | Free-Space Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Rydberg Superatom |
| title_sort | free space quantum electrodynamics with a single rydberg superatom |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.041010 |
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