Dynamics of Emergent Crystallinity in Photonic Quantum Materials
- Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
This proposal will employ a revolutionary cold atom/photon hybrid material that combines the advantages of cold atom and semiconductor approaches: By confining a thin layer of Rydberg-EIT dressed atoms in the waist of a confocal optical resonator, a new synthetic material will emerge, akin to an exciton-polariton gas, but with stronger interactions and exquisite control: In the resonator, photons and Rydbergs hybridize, producing quasi-particles whose low mass is inherited from photons, and strong interactions from the Rydbergs. These particles have adjustable mass, interactions, and confinement, allowing tuning from a BEC to an unexplored regime expected to exhibit crystallinity. By studying non-equilibrium evolution near this transition, it will be possible to investigate quantum dynamics in a non-classical crystal, where quantum zero-point motion is substantial. Such a regime offers a unique opportunity to probe the universality of quantum dynamics, and also to study, for the first time, a form of quantum “soft-matter”, where the lattice structure is emergent, and competes with quantum fluctuations through the introduction of strongly interacting topological defects.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0010267
- OSTI ID:
- 1545250
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-UofC-0010267
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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