Vacuum-Assisted Generation and Control of Atomic Coherences at X-Ray Energies

Kilian P. Heeg, Hans-Christian Wille, Kai Schlage, Tatyana Guryeva, Daniel Schumacher, Ingo Uschmann, Kai S. Schulze, Berit Marx, Tino Kämpfer, Gerhard G. Paulus, Ralf Röhlsberger, and Jörg Evers
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 073601 – Published 14 August 2013
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

The control of light-matter interaction at the quantum level usually requires coherent laser fields. But already an exchange of virtual photons with the electromagnetic vacuum field alone can lead to quantum coherences, which subsequently suppress spontaneous emission. We demonstrate such spontaneously generated coherences (SGC) in a large ensemble of nuclei operating in the x-ray regime, resonantly coupled to a common cavity environment. The observed SGC originates from two fundamentally different mechanisms related to cooperative emission and magnetically controlled anisotropy of the cavity vacuum. This approach opens new perspectives for quantum control, quantum state engineering and simulation of quantum many-body physics in an essentially decoherence-free setting.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 3 May 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.073601

© 2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Kilian P. Heeg1, Hans-Christian Wille2, Kai Schlage2, Tatyana Guryeva2, Daniel Schumacher2, Ingo Uschmann3,4, Kai S. Schulze4, Berit Marx3, Tino Kämpfer4, Gerhard G. Paulus3,4, Ralf Röhlsberger2, and Jörg Evers1

  • 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestraße 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
  • 3Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
  • 4Helmholtz-Institut Jena, Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 111, Iss. 7 — 16 August 2013

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×