Light-matter interactions in synthetic magnetic fields: Landau-photon polaritons

TL;DR

This paper explores how synthetic magnetic fields in 2D photonic systems alter light-matter interactions, leading to the formation of Landau-photon polaritons with unique properties, useful for quantum simulation of topological models.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of Landau-photon polaritons in photonic lattices under synthetic magnetic fields, revealing their non-Markovian and chiral dynamics.

Findings

Transition from extended modes to Landau levels with increasing magnetic field

Formation of strongly coupled Landau-photon polaritons

Potential for quantum simulation of topological models

Abstract

We study light-matter interactions in two dimensional photonic systems in the presence of a spatially homogeneous synthetic magnetic field for light. Specifically, we consider one or more two-level emitters located in the bulk region of the lattice, where for increasing magnetic field the photonic modes change from extended plane waves to circulating Landau levels. This change has a drastic effect on the resulting emitter-field dynamics, which becomes intrinsically non-Markovian and chiral, leading to the formation of strongly coupled Landau-photon polaritons. The peculiar dynamical and spectral properties of these quasi-particles can be probed with state-of-the-art photonic lattices in the optical and the microwave domain and may find various applications for the quantum simulation of strongly interacting topological models.