dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaControlling Rydberg atom-polariton interactions: from exceptional points to fast readout
| Authors | Tamara Šumarac, Emily H. Qiu, Shai Tsesses, Peiran Niu, Adrian J. Menssen, Wenchao Xu, Valentin Walther, Uroš Delić, Soonwon Choi, Mikhail D. Lukin, Vladan Vuletić |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | 2601.06345vv1 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.06345 |
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
Abstract
Rydberg atoms represent a platform underpinning many recent developments in quantum computation, simulation, sensing, and metrology. They further facilitate optical nonlinearity at the single-photon level when coupled to photons propagating in atomic clouds, which form collective atomic excitations called Rydberg polaritons, strongly interacting with each other. Here, we experimentally explore interactions between a Rydberg polariton in an atomic ensemble and a single, adjacent, Rydberg atom. We discover three different regimes of quantum dynamics corresponding to polariton blockade, coherent exchange, and probabilistic hopping, which are defined by their distinct transmission characteristics, with a transition through an exceptional point occurring between blockade and coherent exchange. We investigate the applications of such interactions for fast, non-destructive detection of Rydberg atoms and present proof-of-principle demonstrations for their potential application in nonlinear photonic networks.
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"abstract": "Rydberg atoms represent a platform underpinning many recent developments in quantum computation, simulation, sensing, and metrology. They further facilitate optical nonlinearity at the single-photon level when coupled to photons propagating in atomic clouds, which form collective atomic excitations called Rydberg polaritons, strongly interacting with each other. Here, we experimentally explore interactions between a Rydberg polariton in an atomic ensemble and a single, adjacent, Rydberg atom. We discover three different regimes of quantum dynamics corresponding to polariton blockade, coherent exchange, and probabilistic hopping, which are defined by their distinct transmission characteristics, with a transition through an exceptional point occurring between blockade and coherent exchange. We investigate the applications of such interactions for fast, non-destructive detection of Rydberg atoms and present proof-of-principle demonstrations for their potential application in nonlinear photonic networks.",
"arxiv_id": "2601.06345",
"authors": [
"Tamara \u0160umarac",
"Emily H. Qiu",
"Shai Tsesses",
"Peiran Niu",
"Adrian J. Menssen",
"Wenchao Xu",
"Valentin Walther",
"Uro\u0161 Deli\u0107",
"Soonwon Choi",
"Mikhail D. Lukin",
"Vladan Vuleti\u0107"
],
"categories": [
"physics.atom-ph",
"cond-mat.quant-gas",
"quant-ph"
],
"license": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
"title": "Controlling Rydberg atom-polariton interactions: from exceptional points to fast readout",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.06345",
"version": "v1"
},
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"variant": "snapshot-2026-01-17",
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