Researchers realize synthetic gauge fields in single optomechanical resonator

The research team led by Prof. GUO Guangcan and Dr. DONG Chunhua from the University of Science and Technology of China realized synthetic gauge fields in a single optomechanical resonator by controlling geometric phase with the multimode interaction in the micro-resonator.

By engineering a Hamiltonian, uncharged particles or bosonic excitations can acquire a path-dependent phase which realizes a synthetic magnetic field. Such synthetic gauge field can improve the precision of quantum many-body simulation and control over bosons.

Previous works have realized synthetic gauge fields through coupled resonators, while this time the team realized synthetic gauge field in a single optomechanical resonator based on multimode interaction of microcavity.

The team proposed to employ clockwise and counterclockwise driving lasers into the microcavity simultaneously, which realized the coherent coupling between optical photons and phonons and achieved complete control over the coupling phase.

In the experiment, researchers proved that the coupling transport of optical photons between multiple modes would obtain a path-dependent phase, which can realize the equivalent synthetic magnetic field of optical photons.

Thanks to the advantages of microcavity optical field modulation, the team further realized the time-varying canonical phase and demonstrated the synthetic electric field of optical photons in a single optomechanical resonator.

Higher dimensional synthetic gauge field is indicated by the experiment results, in consideration of the strong coherent optomechanical coupling interaction and coherent nonlinear optical effects in microcavities.

The study was published on Physics Review Letters.

The synthetic fields shown in this work shed light on the topological properties of optical photons and realization of chiral edge states and topological protection.

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