Dimensional Crossover in a Quantum Gas of Light
Abstract
The dimensionality of a system profoundly influences its physical behaviour, leading to the emergence of different states of matter in many-body quantum systems. In lower dimensions, fluctuations increase and lead to the suppression of long-range order. For example, in bosonic gases, Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in one dimension requires stronger confinement than in two dimensions. We experimentally study the properties of a harmonically trapped photon gas undergoing Bose-Einstein condensation along the dimensional crossover from one to two dimensions. The photons are trapped in a dye microcavity where polymer nanostructures provide the trapping potential for the photon gas. By varying the aspect ratio of the harmonic trap, we tune from an isotropic two-dimensional confinement to an anisotropic, highly elongated one-dimensional trapping potential. Along this transition we determine the caloric properties of the photon gas and find a softening of the second-order Bose-Einstein condensation phase transition observed in two dimensions to a crossover behaviour in one dimension.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2311.10485,
title = {Dimensional Crossover in a Quantum Gas of Light},
author = {Kirankumar Karkihalli Umesh and Julian Schulz and Julian Schmitt and Martin Weitz and Georg von Freymann and Frank Vewinger},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.10485},
year = {2025}
}