Driven Imposters: Controlling Expectations in Many-Body Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a framework for controlling and tracking observables in driven many-body solid state systems, enabling manipulation of material properties and optical spectra via tailored laser fields.

Contribution

It develops a non-linear equation of motion for observable tracking with constraints, and demonstrates applications in inducing superconductivity and mimicking optical spectra.

Findings

Successfully made current expectations follow arbitrary functions.

Mimicked optical spectra of different material regimes.

Proposed a method for designing laser fields to control material states.

Abstract

We present a framework to control and track the observables of a general solid state system driven by an incident laser field. The main result is a non-linear equation of motion for tracking an observable, together with a constraint on the size of expectations which may be reproduced via tracking. Among other applications, this model provides a potential route to the design of laser fields which cause photo-induced superconductivity in materials above their critical temperature. As a first test, the strategy is used to make the expectation value of the current conform to an arbitrary function under a range of model parameters. Additionally, using two reference spectra for materials in the conducting and insulating regimes respectively, the tracking algorithm is used to make each material mimic the optical spectrum of the other.