Light emission is fundamentally tied to the quantum coherence of the emitting particle

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2011.00623v1
• Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2020 20:24:00 GMT
• Title: Light emission is fundamentally tied to the quantum coherence of the emitting particle
• Authors: Aviv Karnieli, Nicholas Rivera, Ady Arie and Ido Kaminer
• Abstract summary: We show that even in seemingly classical experimental regimes, light emission is tied to quantum properties of the emitting particles. By employing quantum electrodynamics, we unveil the role of the particle's coherent momentum uncertainty. We find instead that the shockwave's duration is fundamentally bound from below by the particle's coherent momentum uncertainty.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Coherent emission of light by free charged particles is ubiquitous in many areas of physics and engineering, with the light's properties believed to be successfully captured by classical electromagnetism in all relevant experimental settings. The advent of interactions between light and free quantum matter waves brought about fundamental questions regarding the role of the particle wavefunction. Here we show that even in seemingly classical experimental regimes, light emission is fundamentally tied to quantum properties of the emitting particles, such as their quantum coherence and correlations. By employing quantum electrodynamics, we unveil the role of the particle's coherent momentum uncertainty, without which decoherence of light becomes dominant. As an example, we consider Cherenkov radiation, envisioned for almost a century as a shockwave of light. We find instead that the shockwave's duration is fundamentally bound from below by the particle's coherent momentum uncertainty due to the underlying entanglement between the particle and light. This quantum optical paradigm opens new capabilities in analytical electron microscopy, enabling the measurement of quantum correlations of shaped electron wavepackets. Our findings also have applications for Cherenkov detectors in particle physics. For example, by measuring spectral photon autocorrelations, one can unveil the particle's wavefunction size, shape and coherence. Such schemes are especially intriguing for many high-energy particles, where other techniques are not available.

Related papers

• Cavity-Quantum Electrodynamics with Moiré Flatband Photonic Crystals [35.119260614523256]
  A quantum dot can be tuned by a factor of 40, ranging from 42 ps to 1692 ps, which is attributed to strong Purcell enhancement and Purcell inhibition effects. Our findings pave the way for moir'e flatband cavity-enhanced quantum light sources, quantum optical switches, and quantum nodes for quantum internet applications.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-11-25T18:52:11Z)
• A Theory of Quantum Jumps [44.99833362998488]
  We study fluorescence and the phenomenon of quantum jumps'' in idealized models of atoms coupled to the quantized electromagnetic field. Our results amount to a derivation of the fundamental randomness in the quantum-mechanical description of microscopic systems.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-04-16T11:00:46Z)
• Photon bunching in high-harmonic emission controlled by quantum light [0.0]
  Recent theories have laid the groundwork for understanding how quantum-optical properties affect high-field photonics. We demonstrate a new experimental approach that transduces some properties of a quantum-optical state through a strong-field nonlinearity. Our results suggest that perturbing strong-field dynamics with quantum-optical states is a viable way to coherently control the generation of these states at short wavelengths.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-04-08T12:53:42Z)
• Relativistic single-electron wavepacket in quantum electromagnetic fields: Quantum coherence, correlations, and the Unruh effect [0.0]
  We present a linearized effective theory using a Gaussian wavepacket description of a charged relativistic particle coupled to quantum electromagnetic fields. We address the issues of decoherence of flying electrons in free space and the impact of Unruh effect on the electrons. For a single electron accelerated in a uniform electric field, we identify the Unruh effect in the two-point correlators of the deviations from the electron's classical trajectory.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-01-27T13:23:44Z)
• Bound state of distant photons in waveguide quantum electrodynamics [137.6408511310322]
  Quantum correlations between distant particles remain enigmatic since the birth of quantum mechanics. We predict a novel kind of bound quantum state in the simplest one-dimensional setup of two interacting particles in a box. Such states could be realized in the waveguide quantum electrodynamics platform.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-03-17T09:27:02Z)
• Deterministic quantum correlation between coherently paired photons acting on a beam splitter [0.0]
  We study the quantum natures of paired photons acting on a beam splitter, where mutual coherence plays a major role. Unlike current common understanding on anticorrelation, bipartite entanglement between paired photons does not have to be probabilistic or post-selected.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-08-21T23:24:18Z)
• Imprinting the quantum statistics of photons on free electrons [0.15274583259797847]
  We observe quantum statistics effects of photons on free-electron-light interactions. We demonstrate interactions passing continuously from Poissonian to super-Poissonian and up to thermal statistics. Our findings suggest free-electron-based non-destructive quantum tomography of light, and constitute an important step towards combined atto-second and sub-A-spatial resolution microscopy.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-05-07T08:16:21Z)
• Waveguide quantum electrodynamics: collective radiance and photon-photon correlations [151.77380156599398]
  Quantum electrodynamics deals with the interaction of photons propagating in a waveguide with localized quantum emitters. We focus on guided photons and ordered arrays, leading to super- and sub-radiant states, bound photon states and quantum correlations with promising quantum information applications.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-03-11T17:49:52Z)
• Super- and subradiance by entangled free particles [0.0]
  We show how a pair of path-entangled electrons can demonstrate either super- or subradiant light emission. By choosing different free-electron Bell-states, the spectrum and emission pattern of the light can be reshaped. Our findings suggest that light emission can be sensitive to the explicit quantum state of the emitting matter wave.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-11-04T21:26:44Z)
• A Chirality-Based Quantum Leap [46.53135635900099]
  Chiral degrees of freedom occur in matter and in electromagnetic fields. Recent observations of the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect in chiral molecules and engineered nanomaterials.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-08-31T22:47:39Z)
• Quantum Hall phase emerging in an array of atoms interacting with photons [101.18253437732933]
  Topological quantum phases underpin many concepts of modern physics. Here, we reveal that the quantum Hall phase with topological edge states, spectral Landau levels and Hofstadter butterfly can emerge in a simple quantum system. Such systems, arrays of two-level atoms (qubits) coupled to light being described by the classical Dicke model, have recently been realized in experiments with cold atoms and superconducting qubits.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-03-18T14:56:39Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.