Taylor, J.
, Hafezi, M.
and Adhikari, P.
(2015),
Chemical potential for light, Nature Physics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.174305
(Accessed May 4, 2024)
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Chemical potential for light
Published
Author(s)
, , Prabin Adhikari
Abstract
Photons are not conserved in interactions with other matter. Consequently, when understanding the equation of state and thermodynamics of photons, while we have a concept of temperature for energy conservation, there is no equivalent chemical potential for particle number conservation. However, the notion of a chemical potential is crucial in understanding a wide variety of single- and many-body effects, from transport in conductors and semi-conductors to phase transitions in electronic and atomic systems. Here we show how a direct modification of the system-bath coupling via parametric oscillation creates an effective chemical potential for photons even in the thermodynamic limit. Specific implementations, using circuit-QED or optomechanics, are feasible using current technologies, and we show a detailed example demonstrating the emergence of Mott Insulator-superfluid transition in a lattice of nonlinear oscillators. Our approach paves the way for quantum simulation, quantum sources and even electron-like circuits with light.Citation
Nature Physics
Volume
92
Pub Type
Journals
Download Paper
Keywords
parametric amplifier, quantum phase transition, quantum optics
Citation
Created November 19, 2015, Updated June 2, 2021