Rydberg polariton dynamics in quasi one dimensional geometries

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Patrick Windpassinger
• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 315978677

Novel Rydberg atom interfaces and Rydberg quantum optics are two of the focus areas of the "Giant Interactions in Rydberg Systems" (GiRyd) priority program. This project establishes a new highly efficient atom-light interface based on hollow-core optical fibers and exploits its unique properties to study the propagation and evolution of strong light-atom correlations in a one-dimensional system. The first part of the project is focused around the controlled loading of a laser cooled, atomic sample into a suitable hollow-core fiber and the generation of Rydberg polaritons by electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Here, special attention will be paid to the characterization of the polariton field properties during a controlled spatio-temporal evolution of the atomic system. The second part of the project is dedicated to the investigation of the propagation and scattering dynamics of these polaritons. This should shed light onto fundamental issues connected to the propagation of entanglement and quantum information in strongly coupled light atom systems and allow for the generation of exotic non-classical photonic states. By tuning the number of interacting polaritons, i.e. the number of photons in the non-classical light states, we in addition plan to investigate the transition from single particle to continuous variable quantum information and link the two limiting cases. These investigations will, amongst others, build the basis for exploiting interacting photons as a platform for quantum simulation.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1929: Giant Interactions in Rydberg Systems (GiRyd)