We report the study of non-classical light in a photonic lattice having parabolic coupling distribution, also known as Jx photonic lattice. We focus on two photon Fock state, two photon N00N state, and single mode squeezed state along with coherent state as input to the lattice. We investigate the possibility of perfect transfer of mean photon number as well as quantum state from one waveguide mode to other. We study photon-photon correlation for two photon N00N state. For single mode squeezed state we study in detail, the evolution of squeezing factor and entanglement between the waveguide modes. Our findings suggest perfect transfer of average photon number for all cases and perfect transfer of quantum state in case of two photon Fock state and two photon N00N state only and not in the case of squeezed and coherent state. Our results should have applications in physical implementation of photonic continuous variable quantum information processing.
We show that Bragg diffraction may be modeled by classical light propagation in photonic lattices having a square power law for the refraction index coefficient. The dynamics is shown to be fully integrable and therefore described in closed form. We examine the trajectories of classical light propagating in such structures.
All-optical photonic devices are crucial for many important photonic technology and applications, ranging from optical communication to quantum information processing. Conventional design of all-optical devices is based on photon propagation and interference in real space, which may reply on large numbers of optical elements and are challenging for precise control. Here we propose a new route for engineering all-optical devices using photon internal degrees of freedom, which form photonic crystals in such synthetic dimensions for photon propagation and interference. We demonstrate this new des…
Rotation-induced splitting of the otherwise degenerate photonic bands is predicted for a two-dimensional photonic crystal made of evanescently coupled microcavities. The symmetry-broken energy splitting is similar to the Zeeman splitting of atomic levels or electron's (hole's) magnetic moment sublevels in an external magnetic field. The orbital motion of photons in periodic photonic lattice of microcavities is shown to enhance significantly such Coriolis-Zeeman splitting as compared to a solitary microcavity [D.L. Boiko, Optics Express 2, 397 (1998)]. The equation of motion suggests that nonst…
The analytic specifications of photonic lattices with fractional revival (FR) and perfect state transfer (PST) are reviewed. The approach to their design which is based on orthogonal polynomials is highlighted. A compendium of analytic models with PST is offered. New results on their FR properties are included. The nearest-neighbour approximation is adopted in most of the review; one analytic example with next-to-nearest neighbour interactions is also presented.
Optical lattice loaded with cold atoms can exhibit a tunable photonic band gap for a weak probe field under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. This system possesses a number of advantageous properties, including reduced relaxation of Raman coherence and the associated probe absorption, and simultaneous enhancement of the index modulation and the resulting reflectivity of the medium. This flexible system has a potential to serve as a testbed of various designs for the linear and nonlinear photonic band gap materials at a very low light level and can be employed for real…
We present a review on the mathematical methods used to theoretically study classical propagation and quantum transport in arrays of coupled photonic waveguides. We focus on analysing two types of binary photonic lattices where self-energies or couplings are alternated. For didactic reasons, we split the analysis in classical propagation and quantum transport but all methods can be implemented, mutatis mutandis, in any given case. On the classical side, we use coupled mode theory and present an operator approach to Floquet-Bloch theory in order to study the propagation of a classical electroma…
We study the dynamics of nonlinear photonic lattices driven by two-photon parametric processes. By means of matrix-product-state based calculations, we show that a quantum many-body state with long-range hidden order can be generated from the vacuum. This order resembles that characterizing the Haldane insulator. A possible explanation highlighting the role of the symmetry of the drive, and the effect of photon loss are discussed. An implementation based in superconducting circuits is proposed and analyzed
The mapping of photonic states to collective excitations of atomic ensembles is a powerful tool which finds a useful application in the realization of quantum memories and quantum repeaters. In this work we show that cold atoms in optical lattices can be used to perform an entangling unitary operation on the transferred atomic excitations. After the release of the quantum atomic state, our protocol results in a deterministic two qubit gate for photons. The proposed scheme is feasible with current experimental techniques and robust against the dominant sources of noise.
We present a derivation that maps the original problem of a many body open quantum system (OQS) coupled to a harmonic oscillator reservoir into that of a many body OQS coupled to a lattice of harmonic oscillators. The present method is particularly suitable to analyse the dynamics of atoms arranged in a periodic structure and coupled the EM field within a photonic crystal. It allows to solve the dynamics of a many body OQS with methods alternative to the commonly used master, stochastic Schrödinger and Heisenberg equations, and thus to reach regimes well beyond the weak coupling and Born-Marko…
We present a characterization of topological phases in photonic lattices. Our theory relies on a formal equivalence between the singular value decomposition of the non-Hermitian coupling matrix and the diagonalization of an effective Hamiltonian. By means of that mapping we unveil an application of topological band theory to the description of quantum amplification with non-reciprocal systems. We exemplify our ideas with an array of photonic cavities which can be mapped into a topological insulator Hamiltonian in the AIII symmetry class. We investigate stability properties and prove the existe…
An optical realization of the phenomenon of many-body coherent destruction of tunneling, recently predicted for interacting many-boson systems by Gong, Molina and Haenggi [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 133002 (2009)], is proposed for light transport in engineered waveguide arrays. The optical system enables a direct visualization in Fock space of the many-body tunneling control process
We study the photonic spectrum of a one-dimensional optical lattice possessing a double primitive cell, when the atoms are well localized at the lattice minima. While a one-dimensional lattice with a simple Wigner-Seitz cell always possesses a photonic bandgap at the atomic resonance, in this configuration the photonic transmission spectrum may exhibit none, double or multiple photonic bandgaps depending on the ratio between the interparticle distance $\varrho$ inside the cell and the cell size $a$. The transmission spectra of a weak incident probe are evaluated when the atoms are trapped in f…
We investigate the properties of parity-time symmetric periodic photonic structures using Heesh-Shubnikov group theory. Classical group theory cannot be used to categorize the symmetry of the eigenmodes because the time-inversion operator is antiunitary. Fortunately, corepresentations of Heesh-Shubnikov groups have been developed to characterize the effect of antiunitary operators on eigenfunctions. Using the example structure of a one-dimensional photonic lattice, we identify the corepresentations of eigenmodes at both low and high symmetry points in the photonic band diagram. We find that th…
We theoretically investigate the flow of electromagnetic waves in complex honeycomb photonic lattices with local PT symmetries. Such PT structure is introduced via a judicious arrangement of gain or loss across the honeycomb lattice, characterized by a gain/loss parameter γ. We found a new class of conical diffraction phenomena where the formed cone is brighter and travels along the lattice with a transverse speed proportional to Sqrt (γ).
We experimentally demonstrate the photonic realization of a dispersionless flat-band in a quasi-one-dimensional photonic lattice fabricated by ultrafast laser inscription. In the nearest neighbor tight binding approximation, the lattice supports two dispersive and a non-dispersive (flat) band. We experimentally excite superpositions of flat-band eigen modes at the input of the photonic lattice and show the diffractionless propagation of the input states due to their infinite effective mass. In the future, the use of photonic rhombic lattices, together with the successful implementation of a sy…
We study the propagation of non-classical light through arrays of coupled linear photonic waveguides and introduce some sets of refractive indices and coupling parameters that provide a closed form propagator in terms of orthogonal polynomials. We present propagation examples of non-classical states of light: single photon, coherent state, path-entangled state and two-mode squeezed vacuum impinging into two-waveguide couplers and a photonic lattice producing coherent transport.
We present a class of waveguide arrays that is the classical analog of a quantum harmonic oscillator where the mass and frequency depend on the propagation distance. In these photonic lattices refractive indices and second neighbor couplings define the mass and frequency of the analog quantum oscillator, while first neighbor couplings are a free parameter to adjust the model. The quantum model conserves the Ermakov-Lewis invariant, thus the photonic crystal also posses this symmetry.
We present a classical analog of quantum optical deformed oscillators in arrays of waveguides. The normal modes of these one-dimensional photonic crystals are given in terms of Jacobi polynomials. We show that it is possible to attack the problem via factorization by exploiting the quantum optical analogy. This allows us to provide an unbroken supersymmetric partner of the proposed Jacobi lattices. Thanks to the underlying SU(1,1) group symmetry of the lattices, we present the analytic propagators and impulse functions for these one-dimensional photonic crystals.
We propose the use of photonic crystal structures to design subwavelength optical lattices in two dimensions for ultracold atoms by using both Guided Modes and Casimir-Polder forces. We further show how to use Guided Modes for photon-induced large and strongly long-range interactions between trapped atoms. Finally, we analyze the prospects of this scheme to implement spin models for quantum simulation
The quantum version of Google PageRank has recently been investigated by various groups and shown to be quadratically faster in time than the classical PageRank algorithm. In this paper we propose the implementation of Quantum PageRank by a stochastic quantum walk of correlated photons in a photonic waveguide lattice, where we allow the density matrix to evolve according to the Lindblad-Kossakowski master equation. This yields a stationary state, the diagonal of whose density matrix gives the page ranking.
A method for realizing asymmetric (one-way) transmission of discretized light in modulated, linear and purely passive optical lattices is suggested, which exploits the idea of unidirectional coherent perfect absorption. The system consists of a linear photonic lattice of coupled resonators or waveguides, side coupled to a chain of lossy elements, in which light can avoid the occupation of the dissipative sites when propagating in one way, but not in the opposite one. Non-reciprocity requires modulation of the resonator/waveguide parameters, realizing a dissipative optical Aharonov-Bohm diode w…
We extend the idea of quantum phase transitions of light in the photonic Bose-Hubbard model with interactions to two atomic species by a self-consistent mean field theory. The excitation of two-level atoms interacting with coherent photon fields is analyzed with a finite temperature dependence of the order parameters. Four ground states of the system are found, including an isolated Mott-insulator phase and three different superfluid phases. Like two weakly coupled superconductors, our proposed dual-species lattice system shows a photonic analogue of Josephson effect. The dynamics of the propo…
Photonic quantum simulators are promising candidates for providing insight into other small- to medium-sized quantum systems. The available photonic quantum technology is reaching the state where significant advantages arise for the quantum simulation of interesting questions in Heisenberg spin systems. Here we experimentally simulate such spin systems with single photons and linear optics. The effective Heisenberg-type interactions among individual single photons are realized by quantum interference at the tunable direction coupler followed by the measurement process. The effective interactio…
In this article we use the method of shortcuts to adiabaticity to design a photonic lattice (array of waveguides) which can drive the input light to a controlled location at the output. The output position in the array is determined by functions of the propagation distance along the waveguides, which modulate the lattice characteristics (index of refraction, first and second neighbor couplings). The proposed coupler is expected to posses the robustness properties of the design method, coming from its adiabatic nature, and also to have a smaller footprint than purely adiabatic couplers. The pre…
Photonic lattices - arrays of optical waveguides - are powerful platforms for simulating a range of phenomena, including topological phases. While probing dynamics is possible in these systems, by reinterpreting the propagation direction as "time," accessing long timescales constitutes a severe experimental challenge. Here, we overcome this limitation by placing the photonic lattice in a cavity, which allows the optical state to evolve through the lattice multiple times. The accompanying detection method, which exploits a multi-pixel single-photon detector array, offers quasi-real time-resolve…
Arrays of coupled photonic cavities driven by external lasers represent a highly controllable setup to explore photonic transport. In this paper we address (quasi)-steady states of this system that exhibit photonic currents introduced by engineering driving and dissipation. We investigate two approaches: in the first one, photonic currents arise as a consequence of a phase difference of applied lasers and in the second one, photons are injected locally and currents develop as they redistribute over the lattice. Effects of interactions are taken into account within a mean-field framework. In th…
We suggest a method for trapping photons in quasi one-dimensional waveguide or coupled-resonator lattices, which is based on an optical analogue of the Aharonov-Bohm cages for charged particles. Light trapping results from a destructive interference of Aharonov-Bohm type induced by a synthetic magnetic field, which is realized by periodic modulation of the waveguide/resonator propagation constants/resonances.
Time reversal is one of the most intriguing yet elusive wave phenomenon of major interest in different areas of classical and quantum physics. Time reversal requires in principle to flip the sign of the Hamiltonian of the system, leading to a revival of the initial state (Loschmidt echo). Here it is shown that Loschmidt echo of photons can be observed in an optical setting without resorting to reversal of the Hamiltonian. We consider photonic propagation in a binary waveguide lattice and show that, by exchanging the two sublattices after some propagation distance, a Loschmidt echo can be obser…
We present a general scheme for measuring the bulk properties of non-interacting tight-binding models realized in arrays of coupled photonic cavities. Specifically, we propose to implement a single unit cell of the targeted model with tunable twisted boundary conditions in order to simulate large systems and, most importantly, to access bulk topological properties experimentally. We illustrate our method by demonstrating how to measure topological invariants in a two-dimensional quantum Hall-like model.
Non-abelian gauge fields emerge naturally in the description of adiabatically evolving quantum systems having degenerate levels. Here we show that they also play a role in Thouless pumping in the presence of degenerate bands. To this end we consider a photonic Lieb lattice having two degenerate non-dispersive modes and we show that, when the lattice parameters are slowly modulated, the propagation of the photons bear the fingerprints of the underlying non-abelian gauge structure. The non-dispersive character of the bands enables a high degree of control on photon propagation. Our work paves th…
We introduce a simple method to realize and detect photonic topological Chern insulators with one-dimensional circiut quantum electrodynamics arrays. By periodically modulating the couplings of the array, we show that this one-dimensional model can be mapped into a two-dimensional Chern insulator model. In addition to allowing the study of photonic Chern insulators, this approach also provides a natural platform to realise experimentally Laughlin's pumping argument. Based on scattering theory of topological insulators and input-output formalism, we show that the photonic edge state can be prob…
Bloch oscillations, the oscillatory motion of a quantum particle in a periodic potential, are one of the most fascinating effects of coherent quantum transport. Originally studied in the context of electrons in crystals, Bloch oscillations manifest the wave nature of matter and are found in a wide variety of different physical systems. Here we report on the first experimental observation of fractional Bloch oscillations, using a photonic lattice as a model system of a two-particle extended Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian. In our photonic simulator, the dynamics of two correlated particles hopping on …
Quantum interference and quantum correlation, as two main features of quantum optics, play an essential role in quantum information applications, such as multi-particle quantum walk and boson sampling. While many experimental demonstrations have been done in one-dimensional waveguide arrays, it remains unexplored in higher dimensions due to tight requirement of manipulating and detecting photons in large-scale. Here, we experimentally observe non-classical correlation of two identical photons in a fully coupled two-dimensional structure, i.e. photonic lattice manufactured by three-dimensional …
Photonic lattices are usually considered to be limited by their lack of methods to include interactions. We address this issue by introducing mean-field interactions through optical components which are external to the photonic lattice. The proposed technique to realise mean-field interacting photonic lattices relies on a Suzuki-Trotter decomposition of the unitary evolution for the full Hamiltonian. The technique realises the dynamics in an analogous way to that of a step-wise numerical implementation of quantum dynamics, in the spirit of digital quantum simulation. It is a very versatile tec…
We study the interaction of a Bose-Einstein condensate, which is confined in an optical lattice, with a largely detuned light field propagating through the condensate. If the condensate is in its ground state it acts as a periodic dielectric and gives rise to photonic band gaps at optical frequencies. The band structure of the combined system of condensed lattice-atoms and photons is studied by using the concept of polaritons. If elementary excitations of the condensate are present, they will produce defect states inside the photonic band gaps. The frequency of localized defect states is calcu…
We report measurements of Hanbury Brown and Twiss correlation of coherent light transmitted through disordered one-dimensional photonic lattices. Although such a lattice exhibits transverse Anderson localization when a single input site is excited, uniform excitation precludes its observation. By examining the Hanbury Brown--Twiss correlation for a uniformly excited disordered lattice, we observe intensity anticorrelations associated with photon antibunching--a signature of non-Gaussian statistics. Although the measured average intensity distribution is uniform, transverse Anderson localizatio…
We observe Wannier-Stark localization in curved photonic lattices, realized using arrays of evanescently coupled optical waveguides. By correctly tuning the strength of inter-site coupling in the lattice, we observe that Wannier-Stark states become increasingly localized, and eventually fully localized to one site, as the curvature of the lattice is increased. We then demonstrate that tunneling can be successfully restored in the lattice by applying a sinusoidal modulation to the lattice position, an effect that is a direct analogue of photon-assisted tunneling. This precise tuning of the tunn…
We uncover a superscattering behavior of pseudospin-1 wave from weak scatterers in the subwavelength regime where the scatterer size is much smaller than wavelength. The phenomenon manifests itself as unusually strong scattering characterized by extraordinarily large values of the cross section even for arbitrarily weak scatterer strength. We establish analytically and numerically that the physical origin of superscattering is revival resonances, for which the conventional Born theory breaks down. The phenomenon can be experimentally tested using synthetic photonic systems.
Faithful communication is a necessary precondition for large scale all-optical networking and quantum information processing. Related theoretical investigations in different areas of physics have led to various proposals in which finite discrete lattices are used as channels for short-distance communication tasks. Here, in the framework of femtosecond-laser-written waveguide arrays, we present the first experimental realization of such a channel with judiciously engineered couplings.
The Lieb Lattice exhibits intriguing properties that are of general interest in both the fundamental physics and practical applications. Here, we investigate the topological Landau-Zener Bloch oscillation in a photonic Floquet Lieb lattice, where the dimerized helical waveguides is constructed to realize the synthetic spin-orbital interaction through the Floquet mechanism, rendering us to study the impacts of topological transition from trivial gaps to non-trivial ones. The compact localized states of flat bands supported by the local symmetry of Lieb lattice will be associated with other band…
