Modified and controllable dispersion interaction in a one-dimensional waveguide geometry

Harald R. Haakh and Stefan Scheel
Phys. Rev. A 91, 052707 – Published 19 May 2015

Abstract

Dispersion interactions such as the van der Waals interaction between atoms or molecules derive from quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and can be understood as the exchange of virtual photons between the interacting partners. Any modification of the environment in which those photons propagate will thus invariably lead to an alteration of the van der Waals interaction. Here we show how the two-body dispersion interaction inside a cylindrical waveguide can be made to decay asymptotically exponentially and how this effect sensitively depends on the material properties and the length scales of the problem, eventually leading to the possibility of controllable interactions. Further, we discuss the possibility to detect the retarded van der Waals interaction by resonant enhancement of the interaction between Rydberg atoms in the light of long-range potentials due to guided modes.

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  • Received 1 April 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.91.052707

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Harald R. Haakh1,* and Stefan Scheel2,†

  • 1Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Günther-Scharowski-Straße 1/24, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany
  • 2Institut für Physik, Universität Rostock, Universitätsplatz 3, D-18055 Rostock, Germany

  • *harald.haakh@mpl.mpg.de
  • stefan.scheel@uni-rostock.de

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Vol. 91, Iss. 5 — May 2015

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