Super-Coulombic atom-atom interactions in hyperbolic media
Abstract
Dipole-dipole interactions which govern phenomena like cooperative Lamb shifts, superradiant decay rates, Van der Waals forces, as well as resonance energy transfer rates are conventionally limited to the Coulombic near-field. Here, we reveal a class of real-photon and virtual-photon long-range quantum electrodynamic (QED) interactions that have a singularity in media with hyperbolic dispersion. The singularity in the dipole-dipole coupling, referred to as a Super-Coulombic interaction, is a result of an effective interaction distance that goes to zero in the ideal limit irrespective of the physical distance. We investigate the entire landscape of atom-atom interactions in hyperbolic media and propose practical implementations with phonon-polaritonic hexagonal boron nitride in the infrared spectral range and plasmonic super-lattice structures in the visible range. Our work paves the way for the control of cold atoms in hyperbolic media and the study of many-body atomic states where optical phonons mediate quantum interactions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1601.04013,
title = {Super-Coulombic atom-atom interactions in hyperbolic media},
author = {Cristian L. Cortes and Zubin Jacob},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1601.04013},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
Note that this theory and subsequent experimental work was first presented in the following conferences: Metamaterials Oxford 2015, META New York 2015, SPIE San Diego 2015, DAMOP 2015, CLEO 2015, FIO 2013