Tailoring superradiance to design artificial quantum systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces an analytical framework for designing superradiance in extended media, enabling tailored artificial quantum systems and advancing quantum optics across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Contribution

It provides a systematic, reverse-engineering approach to engineer superradiance properties, facilitating the development of advanced quantum optical schemes.

Findings

Framework applicable across the electromagnetic spectrum

Enables tailored superradiance in artificial quantum systems

Unifies understanding of superradiance across physical systems

Abstract

Cooperative phenomena arising due to the coupling of individual atoms via the radiation field are a cornerstone of modern quantum and optical physics. Recent experiments on x-ray quantum optics added a new twist to this line of research by exploiting superradiance in order to construct artificial quantum systems. However, so far, systematic approaches to deliberately design superradiance properties are lacking, impeding the desired implementation of more advanced quantum optical schemes. Here, we develop an analytical framework for the engineering of single-photon superradiance in extended media applicable across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and show how it can be used to tailor the properties of an artificial quantum system. This "reverse engineering" of superradiance not only provides an avenue towards non-linear and quantum mechanical phenomena at x-ray energies, but also leads to a unified view on and a better understanding of superradiance across different physical systems.