Cavity quantum electrodynamics of photonic temporal crystals
arXiv:2501.03106 · doi:10.1038/s41467-025-67572-0
Abstract
Photonic temporal crystals host a variety of intriguing phenomena, from wave amplification and mixing to exotic band structures, all stemming from the time-periodic modulation of optical properties. While these features have been well described classically, their quantum manifestation has remained elusive. Here, we introduce a quantum electrodynamical model of PTCs that reveals a deeper connection between classical and quantum pictures: the classical momentum gap arises from a localization-delocalization quantum phase transition in a Floquet-photonic synthetic lattice. Leveraging an effective Hamiltonian perspective, we pinpoint the critical momenta and highlight how classical exponential field growth manifests itself as wave-packet acceleration in the quantum synthetic space. Remarkably, when a two-level atom is embedded in such a cavity, its Rabi oscillations undergo irreversible decay to a half-and-half mixed state-a previously unobserved phenomenon driven by photonic delocalization within the momentum gap, even with just a single frequency mode. Our findings establish photonic temporal crystals as versatile platforms for studying nonequilibrium quantum photonics and suggest new avenues for controlling light matter interactions through time domain engineering.
22 pages, 14 figures
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