Spontaneous conversion from virtual to real photons in the ultrastrong-coupling regime

R. Stassi*, A. Ridolfo, O. Di Stefano, M. J. Hartmann, S. Savasta

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

144 Citations (Scopus)

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 Omega(R) becomes comparable to the bare resonance frequency of photons omega(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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number243601
Number of pages5
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume110
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Jun 2013

Keywords

  • SUPERCONDUCTING CIRCUITS
  • QUANTUM
  • METAMATERIAL

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