arXiv subjects

Stefano Longhi

Publications and source records attributed to Stefano Longhi.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Optical analogue of relativistic Dirac solitons in binary waveguide arrays

We study analytically and numerically an optical analogue of Dirac solitons in binary waveguide arrays in presence of Kerr nonlinearity. Pseudo-relativistic soliton solutions of the coupled-mode equations describing dynamics in the array are analytically derived. We demonstrate that with the found soliton solutions, the coupled mode equations can be converted into the nonlinear relativistic 1D Dirac equation. This paves the way for using binary waveguide arrays as a classical simulator of quantum nonlinear effects arising from the Dirac equation, something that is thought to be impossible to achieve in conventional (i.e. linear) quantum field theory.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Fractional Bloch oscillations in photonic lattices

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 a one-dimensional lattice is mapped into the motion of a single particle in a two-dimensional lattice with engineered defects and mimicked by light transport in a square waveguide lattice with a bent axis.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Thermo-modulational interband susceptibility and ultrafast temporal dynamics in nonlinear gold-based plasmonic devices

Starting from first principles, we theoretically model the nonlinear temporal dynamics of gold-based plasmonic devices resulting from the heating of their metallic components. At optical frequencies, the gold susceptibility is determined by the interband transitions around the X,L points in the first Brillouin zone and thermo-modulational effects ensue from Fermi smearing of the electronic energy distribution in the conduction band. As a consequence of light-induced heating of the conduction electrons, the optical susceptibility becomes nonlinear. In this paper we describe, for the first time to our knowledge, the effects of the thermo-modulational nonlinearity of gold on the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons guided on gold nanowires. We introduce a novel nonlinear Schroedinger-like equation to describe pulse propagation in such nanowires, and we predict the appearance an intense spectral red-shift caused by the delayed thermal response.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Photonic realization of the quantum Rabi model

We realize a photonic analog simulator of the quantum Rabi model, based on light transport in femtosecond-laser-written waveguide superlattices, which provides an experimentally accessible testbed to explore the physics of light-matter interaction in the deep strong coupling regime. Our optical setting enables to visualize dynamical regimes not yet accessible in cavity or circuit quantum electrodynamics, such as bouncing of photon number wave packets in parity chains of Hilbert space.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Classical Simulation of Relativistic Quantum Mechanics in Periodic Optical Structures

Spatial and/or temporal propagation of light waves in periodic optical structures offers a rather unique possibility to realize in a purely classical setting the optical analogues of a wide variety of quantum phenomena rooted in relativistic wave equations. In this work a brief overview of a few optical analogues of relativistic quantum phenomena, based on either spatial light transport in engineered photonic lattices or on temporal pulse propagation in Bragg grating structures, is presented. Examples include spatial and temporal photonic analogues of the Zitterbewegung of a relativistic electron, Klein tunneling, vacuum decay and pair-production, the Dirac oscillator, the relativistic Kronig-Penney model, and optical realizations of non-Hermitian extensions of relativistic wave equations.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Invisibility in PT-symmetric complex crystals

Bragg scattering in sinusoidal PT-symmetric complex crystals of finite thickness is theoretically investigated by the derivation of exact analytical expressions for reflection and transmission coefficients in terms of modified Bessel functions of first kind. The analytical results indicate that unidirectional invisibility, recently predicted for such crystals by coupled-mode theory [Z. Lin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 213901 (2011)], breaks down for crystals containing a large number of unit cells. In particular, for a given modulation depth in a shallow sinusoidal potential, three regimes are encountered as the crystal thickness is increased. At short lengths the crystal is reflectionless and invisible when probed from one side (unidirectional invisibility), whereas at intermediate lengths the crystal remains reflectionless but not invisible; for longer crystals both unidirectional reflectionless and invisibility properties are broken.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Many-body coherent destruction of tunneling in photonic lattices

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

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Optical realization of two-boson tunneling dynamics

An optical realization of the tunneling dynamics of two interacting bosons in a double-well potential, based on light transport in a four-core microstructured fiber, is proposed. The optical setting enables to visualize in a purely classical system the entire crossover from Rabi oscillations to correlated pair tunneling and to tunneling of a fragmented pair in the fermionization limit.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Coherent perfect absorption in a homogeneously-broadened two-level medium

In recent works, it has been shown rather generally that the time-reversed process of lasing at threshold realizes a coherent perfect absorber (CPA). In a CPA, a lossy medium in an optical cavity with a specific degree of dissipation, equal in modulus to the gain of the lasing medium, can perfectly absorb coherent optical waves that are the time-reversed counterpart of the lasing field. Here the time-reversed process of lasing is considered in details for a homogeneously-broadened two-level medium in an optical cavity, and the conditions for CPA are derived. It is shown that, owing to the dispersive properties of the two-level medium, exact time-reversal symmetry is broken and the frequency of the field at which CPA occurs is generally different than the one of the lasing mode. Moreover, at a large cooperation parameter the observation of CPA in the presence of bistability requires to operate in the upper branch of the hysteresis cycle.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Classical simulation of the Hubbard-Holstein dynamics with optical waveguide lattices

A classical analog simulator of the two-site Hubbard-Holstein model, describing the dynamics of two correlated electrons coupled with local phonons, is proposed based on light transport in engineered optical waveguide arrays. Our photonic analog simulator enables to map the temporal dynamics of the quantum system in Fock space into spatial propagation of classical light waves in the evanescently-coupled waveguides of the array. In particular, in the strong correlation regime the periodic temporal dynamics, related to the excitation of Holstein polarons with equal energy spacing, can be visualized as a periodic self-imaging phenomenon of the light beam along the waveguide array and explained in terms of generalized Bloch oscillations of a single particle in a semi-infinite inhomogeneous tight-binding lattice.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Time-reversed optical parametric oscillation

In recent works, the idea of time-reversed laser oscillation has been proposed and demonstrated to realize a two-channel coherent perfect absorber [Y.D. Chong et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 053901 (2010); W.Wan et al., Science 331, 889 (2011)]. Here the time reversal of optical parametric oscillation in a nonlinear ?(2) medium is considered and shown to realize a coherent perfect absorber for colored incident signal and idler fields. A detailed analysis is presented for the time-reversed process of mirrorless optical parametric oscillation in the full nonlinear regime

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Photonic Bloch oscillations of correlated particles

A photonic realization of Bloch oscillations (BOs) of two correlated electrons that move on a one-dimensional periodic lattice, based on spatial light transport in a square waveguide array with a defect line, is theoretically proposed. The signature of correlated BOs, such as frequency doubling of the oscillation frequency induced by particle interaction, can be simply visualized by monitoring the spatial path followed by an optical beam that excites the array near the defect line.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Jaynes Cummings Photonic Superlattices

A classical realization of the Jaynes-Cummings (JC) model, describing the interaction of a two-level atom with a quantized cavity mode, is proposed based on light transport in engineered waveguide superlattices. The optical setting enables to visualize in Fock space dynamical regimes not yet accessible in quantum systems, providing new physical insights into the deep strong coupling regime of the JC model. In particular, bouncing of photon number wave packets in Hilbert space and revivals of populations are explained as generalized Bloch oscillations in an inhomogeneous tight-binding lattice.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Light propagation and localization in modulated photonic lattices and waveguides

We review both theoretical and experimental advances in the recently emerged physics of modulated photonic lattices. Artificial periodic dielectric media, such as photonic crystals and photonic lattices, provide a powerful tool for the control of the fundamental properties of light propagation in photonic structures. Photonic lattices are arrays of coupled optical waveguides, where the light propagation becomes effectively discretized. Such photonic structures allow one to study many useful optical analogies with other fields, such as the physics of solid state and electron theory. In particular, the light propagation in periodic photonic structures resembles the motion of electrons in a crystalline lattice of semiconductor materials. The discretized nature of light propagation gives rise to many new phenomena which are not possible in homogeneous bulk media, such as discrete diffraction and diffraction management, discrete and gap solitons, and discrete surface waves. Recently, it was discovered that applying periodic modulation to a photonic lattice by varying its geometry or refractive index is very much similar to applying a bias to control the motion of electrons in a crystalline lattice. An interplay between periodicity and modulation in photonic lattices opens up unique opportunities for tailoring diffraction and dispersion properties of light as well as controlling nonlinear interactions.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Controlling the path of discretized light in waveguide lattices

A general method for flexible control of the path of discretized light beams in homogeneous waveguide lattices, based on longitudinal modulation of the coupling constant, is theoretically proposed. As compared to beam steering and refraction achievable in graded-index waveguide arrays, the proposed approach enables to synthesize rather arbitrary target paths.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Field-induced barrier transparency of Bloch waves in tight-binding lattices

A rectangular potential barrier for a Bloch particle in a tight-binding lattice is shown to become fully transparent by the application of a strong ac field with appropriate amplitude and frequency. Such a curious phenomenon bears some connection with the field-induced barrier transparency effect known for freely-moving particles scattered by an ac-driven rectangular barrier; however, for a Bloch particle transparency is not related to a resonant tunnneling process across the cycle-averaged oscillating potential barrier, as for the freely-moving quantum particle. The phenomenon of field-induced transparency is specifically discussed here for photonic transport in waveguide arrays and demonstrated by full numerical simulations of the paraxial (Schrödinger) wave equation beyond the tight-binding approximation.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2011

Airy beams from a microchip laser

It is theoretically shown that an end-pumped microchip laser formed by a thin laser crystal with plane-plane but slightly tilted facets can emit, under appropriate pumping conditions and near a crystal edge, a truncated self-accelerating Airy output beam.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Dynamical trapping of light in modulated waveguide lattices

A discrete analogue of the dynamical (Kapitza) trapping effect, known for classical and quantum particles in rapidly oscillating potentials, is proposed for light waves in modulated graded-index waveguide lattices. As in the non-modulated waveguide lattice a graded-index potential can confine light at either normal or Bragg angle incidence, periodic modulation of the potential in the longitudinal direction enables to trap optical beams at both normal and Bragg incidence angles.

physics.optics↗