2015/11/02 by Ariel Sommer, Jonathan Simon · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Classical mechanics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Curvature #Floquet theory #Hamiltonian (control theory) #Laser #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Optical cavity #Optics #Physics #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Resonator #Spacetime #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #cond-mat.quant-gas #physics.optics #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/18/3/035008
18 Pages, 4 Figures
arxiv created 2015/11/02 · openalex publication_date 2016/03/07 · arxiv updated 2016/03/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In this paper we analyze an optical Fabry–Pérot resonator as a time-periodic driving of the (2D) optical field repeatedly traversing the resonator, uncovering that resonator twist produces a synthetic magnetic field applied to the light within the resonator, while mirror aberrations produce relativistic dynamics, anharmonic trapping and spacetime curvature. We develop a Floquet formalism to compute the effective Hamiltonian for the 2D field, generalizing the idea that the intra-cavity optical field corresponds to an ensemble of non-interacting, massive, harmonically trapped particles. This work illuminates the extraordinary potential of optical resonators for exploring the physics of quantum fluids in gauge fields and exotic space–times.