Novel symmetry-broken phase in a driven cavity system in the thermodynamic limit

TL;DR

This paper investigates non-equilibrium stationary states in a driven, dissipative cavity system with many atoms, revealing a novel symmetry-broken phase driven by quantum interference effects.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum master equation suitable for strong driving and interactions, demonstrating the emergence of a new symmetry-broken phase in the thermodynamic limit.

Findings

Discovery of a symmetry-broken phase with ordered photon and atomic states

Derivation of a mean-field quantum master equation for strong coupling

Identification of quantum interference as the mechanism for symmetry breaking

Abstract

We study non-equilibrium stationary states of a cavity system consisting of many atoms interacting with a quantized cavity field mode, under a driving field in a dissipative environment. We derive a quantum master equation which is suitable for treating systems with a strong driving field and a strong atom-photon interaction. We do this by making use of the fact that the mean-field dynamics are exact in the thermodynamic limit thanks to a uniform coupling between atoms and photons. We find ordered states with symmetry-broken components of the photon field and atomic excitation driven by the external field. The mechanism by which these ordered states arise is discussed from the viewpoint of the quantum interference effect.