Photon transport in a dissipative chain of nonlinear cavities

Year: 2015

Authors: Biella A., Mazza L., Carusotto I., Rossini D., Fazio R.

Autors Affiliation: Scuola Normale Super Pisa, NEST, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; CNR, Ist Nanosci, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; CNR BEC Ctr, INO, I-38123 Povo, Italy; Univ Trento, Dipartimento Fis, I-38123 Povo, Italy.

Abstract: By means of numerical simulations and the input-output formalism, we study photon transport through a chain of coupled nonlinear optical cavities subject to uniform dissipation. Photons are injected from one end of the chain by means of a coherent source. The propagation through the array of cavities is sensitive to the interplay between the photon hopping strength and the local nonlinearity in each cavity. We characterize photon transport by studying the populations and the photon correlations as a function of the cavity position. When complemented with input-output theory, these quantities provide direct information about photon transmission through the system. The position of single-photon and multiphoton resonances directly reflects the structure of the many-body energy levels. This shows how a study of transport along a coupled cavity array can provide rich information about the strongly correlated (many-body) states of light even in presence of dissipation. The numerical algorithm we use, based on the time-evolving block decimation scheme adapted to mixed states, allows us to simulate large arrays (up to 60 cavities). The scaling of photon transmission with the number of cavities does depend on the structure of the many-body photon states inside the array.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A

Volume: 91 (5)      Pages from: 53815-1  to: 53815-12

More Information: We would like to thank A. Mari for fruitful discussions. We acknowledge financial support by the ERC through the QGBE grant, by the Autonomous Province of Trento, partly through the project On silicon chip quantum optics for quantum computing and secure communications (SiQuro), by EU through the grants IP-project SIQS, and the STREP project THERMIQ, by Regione Toscana POR FSE 2007-2013, and by the Italian MIUR through Projects No. RBFR12NLNA and No. 2010LLKJBX006 Fenomeni quantistici collettivi: dai sistemi fortemente correlati ai simulatori quantistici.
KeyWords: Many-body Phenomena; Quantum; Systems
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.91.053815

Citations: 49
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