A quantum Langevin model for non-equilibrium condensation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum Langevin model for non-equilibrium photon and polariton condensation in microcavities, incorporating spatial dynamics, gain saturation, and quantum fluctuations, advancing understanding of quantum condensation phenomena.

Contribution

It presents a novel quantum Langevin framework for non-equilibrium condensation, including spatial and frequency-dependent effects, and derives an effective stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the cavity field.

Findings

Analysis of quantum fluctuations around the condensed state.

Derivation of an effective stochastic equation in the good-cavity regime.

Outlook on full quantum simulations of non-equilibrium condensation.

Abstract

We develop a quantum model for non-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation of photons and polaritons in planar microcavity devices. The model builds upon laser theory and includes the spatial dynamics of the cavity field, a saturation mechanism and some frequency-dependence of the gain: quantum Langevin equations are written for a cavity field coupled to a continuous distribution of externally pumped two-level emitters with a well-defined frequency. As a an example of application, the method is used to study the linearised quantum fluctuations around a steady-state condensed state. In the good-cavity regime, an effective equation for the cavity field only is proposed in terms of a stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Perspectives in view of a full quantum simulation of the non-equilibrium condensation process are finally sketched.