Non-reciprocity and quantum correlations of light transport in hot atoms via reservoir engineering

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates non-reciprocal light transport in hot atoms by engineering the atomic reservoir, revealing quantum correlations and opening new avenues for atom-based non-reciprocal optics and quantum simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel reservoir engineering approach to achieve non-reciprocal light transport and quantum correlations in hot atomic systems.

Findings

Non-reciprocal light transport observed in hot atoms.

Quantum correlations between channels due to reservoir engineering.

Potential for quantum simulation with coupled optical channels.

Abstract

The breaking of reciprocity is a topic of great interest in fundamental physics and optical information processing applications. We demonstrate non-reciprocal light transport in a quantum system of hot atoms by engineering the dissipative atomic reservoir. Our scheme is based on the phase-sensitive light transport in a multi-channel photon-atom interaction configuration, where the phase of collective atomic excitations is tunable through external driving fields. Remarkably, we observe inter-channel quantum correlations which originate from interactions with the judiciously engineered reservoir. The non-reciprocal transport in a quantum optical atomic system constitutes a new paradigm for atom-based, non-reciprocal optics, and offers opportunities for quantum simulations with coupled optical channels.