Super-Coulombic atom-atom interactions in hyperbolic media

TL;DR

This paper introduces Super-Coulombic interactions in hyperbolic media, revealing long-range quantum electrodynamic effects with singularities that enable unprecedented control over atom-atom interactions.

Contribution

It uncovers a new class of long-range QED interactions with singularities in hyperbolic media and proposes practical implementations for controlling atomic interactions.

Findings

Discovery of Super-Coulombic interactions with singularities

Potential for enhanced control of atom-atom interactions

Implementation proposals using hexagonal boron nitride and plasmonic structures

Abstract

Dipole-dipole interactions which govern phenomena like cooperative Lamb shifts, superradiant decay rates, Van der Waals forces, as well as resonance energy transfer rates are conventionally limited to the Coulombic near-field. Here, we reveal a class of real-photon and virtual-photon long-range quantum electrodynamic (QED) interactions that have a singularity in media with hyperbolic dispersion. The singularity in the dipole-dipole coupling, referred to as a Super-Coulombic interaction, is a result of an effective interaction distance that goes to zero in the ideal limit irrespective of the physical distance. We investigate the entire landscape of atom-atom interactions in hyperbolic media and propose practical implementations with phonon-polaritonic hexagonal boron nitride in the infrared spectral range and plasmonic super-lattice structures in the visible range. Our work paves the way for the control of cold atoms in hyperbolic media and the study of many-body atomic states where optical phonons mediate quantum interactions.