Fractional Bloch oscillations in photonic lattices

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental observation of fractional Bloch oscillations in a photonic lattice, demonstrating complex quantum transport phenomena using a photonic simulator of a two-particle system.

Contribution

It introduces a novel photonic simulation method to observe fractional Bloch oscillations, bridging quantum many-body physics and photonics.

Findings

First experimental observation of fractional Bloch oscillations.

Mapping of two-particle dynamics to single-particle motion in a 2D lattice.

Demonstration of quantum transport phenomena in photonic systems.

Abstract

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.