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Quantum nonlinear optics with single photons enabled by strongly interacting atoms

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TLDR
This work demonstrates a medium that is nonlinear at the level of individual quanta, exhibiting strong absorption of photon pairs while remaining transparent to single photons, paving the way for quantum-by-quantum control of light fields, including single-photon switching, all-optical deterministic quantum logic and the realization of strongly correlated many-body states of light.
Abstract
The realization of strong nonlinear interactions between individual light quanta (photons) is a long-standing goal in optical science and engineering being of both fundamental and technological significance. In conventional optical materials, the nonlinearity at light powers corresponding to single photons is negligibly weak. Here we demonstrate a medium that is nonlinear at the level of individual quanta, exhibiting strong absorption of photon pairs while remaining transparent to single photons. The quantum nonlinearity is obtained by coherently coupling slowly propagating photons to strongly interacting atomic Rydberg states in a cold, dense atomic gas. Our approach paves the way for quantum-by-quantum control of light fields, including single-photon switching, all-optical deterministic quantum logic and the realization of strongly correlated many-body states of light.

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Topological Photonics

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Cavity-based quantum networks with single atoms and optical photons

TL;DR: In this article, a review describes progress towards the goal of multinode networks using the current generation of experiments, which have achieved unprecedented levels of atomic qubit control and light-matter coupling efficiencies.
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Quantum trajectories and open many-body quantum systems

TL;DR: Open quantum systems as discussed by the authors describe quantum systems exhibiting quantum coherence that are coupled to their environment, where the coupling to the environment is sufficiently well understood that it can be manipulated to drive the system into desired quantum states, or project the system onto known states via feedback in quantum measurements.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Electromagnetically induced transparency : Optics in coherent media

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the atomic dynamics and the optical response of the medium to a continuous-wave laser and show how coherently prepared media can be used to improve frequency conversion in nonlinear optical mixing experiments.
Journal ArticleDOI

Light speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold atomic gas

TL;DR: In this paper, an experimental demonstration of electromagnetically induced transparency in an ultracold gas of sodium atoms, in which the optical pulses propagate at twenty million times slower than the speed of light in a vacuum, is presented.
Journal ArticleDOI

Quantum information with Rydberg atoms

TL;DR: Rydberg atoms with principal quantum number $n⪢1$ have exaggerated atomic properties including dipole-dipole interactions that scale as ${n}^{4}$ and radiative lifetimes that scale at least{n}−3}$ as mentioned in this paper, and it was proposed a decade ago to implement quantum gates between neutral atom qubits.
Journal ArticleDOI

Dark-State Polaritons in Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

TL;DR: This work identifies form-stable coupled excitations of light and matter ("dark-state polaritons") associated with the propagation of quantum fields in electromagnetically induced transparency that can be controlled by an external coherent field as the pulse propagates.
Journal ArticleDOI

Dipole blockade and quantum information processing in mesoscopic atomic ensembles.

TL;DR: A technique for manipulating quantum information stored in collective states of mesoscopic ensembles by optical excitation into states with strong dipole-dipole interactions that can be employed for controlled generation of collective atomic spin states as well as nonclassical photonic states and for scalable quantum logic gates is described.
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