Studies of Coherent Radiative Dynamics with Matter-Wave Quantum Emitters

Harnessing the interaction between light and matter is a central topic in quantum optics and emergent quantum technologies. Waveguide-QED (quantum electrodynamics) provides a recent framework in which such interactions, i.e. those between guided photons (particles of light) and elementary quantum emitters (real or artificial atoms), are controlled and engineered through the structure and geometry of the environment in which the two interact. In prior NSF-supported work, the PI has introduced an experimental platform for studies of waveguide-QED effects in the alternative context of ultracold atoms, in which the wells of an optical lattice (i.e. a crystal made of light) act as quantum emitters, while guided atomic matter waves play the role of light. The platform also provides a natural connection to radiatively coupled condensed-matter systems featuring polaritons (quasiparticles made of light and matter). The PI will investigate how tunneling in a lattice influences matter-wave decay, how matter waves reflect from arrays of quantum emitters, and how the controllable properties of quantum emitters can be used to control wave propagation. The project has the potential to address fundamental questions and guide future technological efforts, while also providing pertinent scientific and technical training to graduate and undergraduate students. The project is devoted to studies of coherent radiative behavior in systems of atomic matter-wave quantum emitters. The work uses a recently developed, optical-lattice based platform that provides analogues to waveguide QED and is made possible through the manipulation of coherently coupled hyperfine-state mixtures of bosonic atoms in state-dependent optical lattices. The goals of the project include explorations of super-and subradiant dynamics, of resonant scattering from two- and three-level emitters, and of the effects of polariton bandstructure on matter-wave transport. The project extends the PI's recent NSF-supported work on single-emitter fractional decay, bound states, and the formation of polaritons to address collective dynamical effects, scattering phenomena, and transport behavior. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.