Bonn 2025 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 39: Photon BEC
Q 39.7: Talk
Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 16:00–16:15, HS V
Imprinting reconfigurable topological states for photon condensates — •Kevin Peters1, Nikolas Longen1, Purbita Kole1, Daniel Ehrmanntraut1, Peter Schnorrenberg1, and Julian Schmitt1,2 — 1Universität Bonn, Institut für Angewandte Physik, Wegelerstrasse 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany — 2Universität Heidelberg, Kirchhoff Institut für Physik, Im Neuenheimer Feld 227, 69120 Heidelberg
Previous studies in topological photonics have mostly focused on Hermitian engineering of the photonic band structure, with topological properties largely fixed in fabrication. However, recent theoretical work has proposed topological states of light arising solely from non-Hermiticity in a priori trivial lattices. Experimentally, such states have recently been observed in plasmonic waveguide arrays, although still predetermined in fabrication.
Here, I will present numerical evidence illustrating topological phases arising in 1D arrays of photon condensates through tunable gain and loss. Our system comprises dye-filled optical microcavities, coherently coupled by spatially uniform hopping. Tunable gain and loss are achieved by site-resolved pumping of dye molecule reservoirs. For suitable gain and loss, we observe a bulk band gap and spatially localized end states. Additionally, tunability of the lattice potential provides control over Hermitian properties of our system. Competing Hermitian and non-Hermitian effects lead to a rich phase diagram with various numbers of end states. Our approach allows for highly tunable and reconfigurable topological states of light.
Keywords: Topological photonics; Optical cavities; Bose-Einstein condensates; Open quantum systems; Photonics