Emergent equilibrium in many-body optical bistability

Many–body Theory of Non–equilibrium Systems

Many–Body Aspects of Approach to Equilibrium

In 1956 Mark Kac [5] invented a microscopic, linear model, from which the nonlinear Boltzmann equation describing the evolution of the velocity distribution for a system of colliding particles could be rigorously derived. Consider N particles in one dimension that interact through random collisions. We consider the spatially homogeneous case only, i.e., the case where the particles are uniforml...

Quantum Optical Lattices for Emergent Many-Body Phases of Ultracold Atoms.

Confining ultracold gases in cavities creates a paradigm of quantum trapping potentials. We show that this allows us to bridge models with global collective and short-range interactions as novel quantum phases possess properties of both. Some phases appear solely due to quantum light-matter correlations. Because of a global, but spatially structured, interaction, the competition between quantum...

Emergent thermodynamics in a quenched quantum many-body system.

We study the statistics of the work done, fluctuation relations, and irreversible entropy production in a quantum many-body system subject to the sudden quench of a control parameter. By treating the quench as a thermodynamic transformation we show that the emergence of irreversibility in the nonequilibrium dynamics of closed many-body quantum systems can be accurately characterized. We demonst...

Optical Bistability in Active Devices

1 . I n t r o d u c t i o n R e c e n t p r o g r e s s i n t h e s t u d y o f b o t h a b s o r p t i v e a n d d i s p e r s i v e b i s t a b i l i t y i n l a s e r d i o d e s (LDs) i s r e v i e w e d / I / . T h e m o s t d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e o f b i s t a b l e LDs i s t h a t t h e y h a v e o p t i c a l g a i n . O p t i c a l g a i n r e s u l t s i n a d v a n t a g...