Synchronization dynamics in a designed open system

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding synchronization in open systems with two-level constituents, highlighting the role of mediators like whispering gallery modes in optical microspheres and their impact on collective coherence.

Contribution

It introduces a unifying expression for synchronization dynamics that accounts for propagation delays and mediators in arbitrary environments, demonstrated through optical emitter systems.

Findings

Whispering gallery modes facilitate synchronization of separated emitters.

Synchronization can overcome retardation effects through resonator-mediated coherence.

The framework applies broadly to designed open systems with complex mediators.

Abstract

We theoretically propose a unifying expression for synchronization dynamics between two-level constituents. Although synchronization phenomena require some substantial mediators, the distinct repercussions of their propagation delays remain obscure, especially in open systems. Our scheme directly incorporates the details of the constituents and mediators in an arbitrary environment. As one example, we demonstrate the synchronization dynamics of optical emitters on a dielectric microsphere. We reveal that the whispering gallery modes (WGMs) bridge the well-separated emitters and accelerate the synchronized fluorescence, known as superfluorescence. The emitters are found to overcome the significant and nonuniform retardation, and to build up their pronounced coherence by the WGMs, striking a balance between the roles of resonator and intermediary. Our work directly illustrates the dynamical aspects of many-body synchronizations and contributes to the exploration of research paradigms that consider designed open systems.