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arXiv · 1512.07148

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and phase coherence of a photon Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to a reservoir

Julian Schmitt·Tobias Damm·David Dung·Christian Wahl·Frank Vewinger·Jan Klaers·Martin Weitz
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Abstract

We examine the phase evolution of a Bose-Einstein condensate of photons generated in a dye microcavity by temporal interference with a phase reference. The photo-excitable dye molecules constitute a reservoir of variable size for the condensate particles, allowing for grand canonical statistics with photon bunching, as in a lamp-type source. We directly observe phase jumps of the condensate associated with the large statistical number fluctuations and find a separation of correlation timescales. For large systems, our data reveals phase coherence and a spontaneously broken symmetry, despite the statistical fluctuations.

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Julian Schmitt, Tobias Damm, David Dung, Christian Wahl, Frank Vewinger, Jan Klaers, Martin Weitz. 2015-12-22. Spontaneous symmetry breaking and phase coherence of a photon Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to a reservoir. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.116.033604

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