Time-delayed collective dynamics in waveguide QED and bosonic quantum networks

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical framework using delay differential equations to model non-Markovian collective dynamics of quantum emitters in waveguide QED, revealing cascaded super- and sub-radiance effects and superradiant bursts.

Contribution

It introduces an exact, adaptable formalism for modeling complex emitter interactions with retardation effects in waveguide QED and bosonic networks.

Findings

Discovery of cascaded super- and sub-radiance effects.

Observation of superradiant bursts with superlinear growth.

Potential for experimental observation in circuit QED systems.

Abstract

This work introduces a theoretical framework to model the collective dynamics of quantum emitters in highly non-Markovian environments, interacting through the exchange of photons with significant retardations. The formalism consists on a set of coupled delay differential equations for the emitter's polarizations $\sigma^\pm_i$, supplemented by input-output relations that describe the field mediating the interactions. These equations capture the dynamics of both linear (bosonic) and nonlinear (two-level) emitter arrays. It is exact in some limits$-$e.g., bosonic emitters or generic systems with up to one collective excitation$-$and can be integrated to provide accurate results for larger numbers of photons. These equations support a study of collective spontaneous emission of emitter arrays in open waveguide-QED environments. This study uncovers an effect we term cascaded super- and sub-radiance, characterized by light-cone-limited propagation and increasingly correlated photon emission across distant emitters. The collective nature of this dynamics for two-level systems is evident both in the enhancement of collective emission rates, as well as in a superradiant burst with a faster than linear growth. While these effects should be observable in existing circuit QED devices or slight generalizations thereof, the formalism put forward in this work can be extended to model other systems such as network of quantum emitters or the generation of correlated photon states.