Modified and controllable dispersion interaction in a 1D waveguide geometry

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how the dispersion (van der Waals) interactions between atoms can be modified and controlled within a cylindrical waveguide, enabling exponential decay and potential detection via resonant enhancement.

Contribution

It introduces a method to make dispersion interactions decay exponentially in a waveguide, depending on material properties and geometry, allowing controllable long-range quantum interactions.

Findings

Dispersion interactions can be made to decay exponentially in a waveguide.

Material properties and geometry influence the interaction modification.

Resonant enhancement can enable detection of retarded van der Waals interactions.

Abstract

Dispersion interactions such as the van der Waals interaction between atoms or molecules derive from quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and can be understood as the exchange of virtual photons between the interacting partners. Any modification of the environment in which those photons propagate will thus invariably lead to an alteration of the van der Waals interaction. Here we show how the two-body dispersion interaction inside a cylindrical waveguide can be made to decay asymptotically exponentially, and how this effect sensitively depends on the material properties and the length scales of the problem, eventually leading to the possibility of controllable interactions. Further, we discuss the possibility to detect the retarded van der Waals interaction by resonant enhancement of the interaction between Rydberg atoms in the light of long-range potentials due to guided modes.