Spontaneous Conversion from Virtual to Real Photons in the Ultrastrong-Coupling Regime

2012/10/31 by R. Stassi, Roberto Stassi, A. Ridolfo +6 · 9 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Casimir effect #Condensed matter physics #Coupling (piping) #Hamiltonian (control theory) #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Photon #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Quantum optics #Resonance (particle physics) #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #Superconductivity #Virtual particle #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.110.243601

To appear on Phys. Rev. Lett

arxiv created 2013/05/23 · openalex publication_date 2013/06/11 · arxiv updated 2015/06/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We show that a spontaneous release of virtual photon pairs can occur in a quantum optical system in the ultrastrong coupling regime. In this regime, which is attracting interest both in semiconductor and superconducting systems, the light-matter coupling rate Ω(R) becomes comparable to the bare resonance frequency of photons ω(0). In contrast to the dynamical Casimir effect and other pair creation mechanisms, this phenomenon does not require external forces or time dependent parameters in the Hamiltonian.

Citations

• Quantum limit of decoherence: Environment induced superselection of energy eigenstates
• Dynamical Casimir effect in a Josephson metamaterial
• Input-output theory of cavities in the ultrastrong coupling regime: The case of time-independent cavity parameters
• Particle creation by black holes
• On Gauge Invariance and Vacuum Polarization
• Observation of the Dynamical Casimir Effect in a Superconducting Circuit

Cited by

• Can Ultrastrong Coupling Change Ground-State Chemical Reactions?
• Quantum nonlinear optics without photons
• Optical levitation of a microdroplet containing a single quantum dot
• Vacuum radiation and frequency-mixing in linear light-matter systems
• Photon correlations from ultrastrong optical nonlinearities
• Thomas–Reiche–Kuhn (TRK) sum rule for interacting photons
• Switchable dynamics in the deep-strong-coupling regime
• Emission of photon pairs by mechanical stimulation of the squeezed vacuum
• Ultrastrong coupling in the near field of complementary split-ring resonators

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