Unveiling Chiral Phase Evolution in Rabi Oscillations from a Photonic Setting

Ping Zhang, Qianqian Kang, Yumiao Pei, Zhaoyuan Wang, Yi Hu, Zhigang Chen, and Jingjun Xu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 123201 – Published 15 September 2020
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

Rabi oscillation, originally proposed in nuclear magnetic resonance, is a well-known phenomenon associated with a driven two-level system. Although magnetic fields typically can bring about chirality into unusual phenomena such as chiral edge states in the quantum Hall effect, it is not clear if chirality exists in Rabi oscillations. Here we unveil the intrinsic chirality carried by the phase in a Rabi problem. For opposite detuning of the driving field, the phase evolution of the probability amplitude exhibits a mirror symmetry. Consequently, constructive or destructive interference of two off-resonant Rabi processes under different initial conditions is level dependent and symmetry protected. Experimentally, we demonstrate such features in a photonic setting with adjustable detuning, yet our results may prove pertinent to the study of similar phenomena in other driven two-level systems beyond photonics.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 4 February 2020
  • Accepted 5 August 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.123201

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsAtomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Ping Zhang1, Qianqian Kang1, Yumiao Pei1, Zhaoyuan Wang1, Yi Hu1,*, Zhigang Chen1,2,†, and Jingjun Xu1,‡

  • 1The MOE Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, TEDA Applied Physics Institute and School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300457, China
  • 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California 94132, USA

  • *yihu@nankai.edu.cn
  • zgchen@nankai.edu.cn
  • jjxu@nankai.edu.cn

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 125, Iss. 12 — 18 September 2020

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×