Multiparticle Interference of Pairwise Distinguishable Photons.

One of the central principles of quantum mechanics is that if there are multiple paths that lead to the same event and there is no way to distinguish between them, interference occurs. It is often assumed that distinguishing information in the preparation, evolution, or measurement of a system is sufficient to destroy interference. However, it is still possible for photons in distinguishable, separable states to interfere due to the indistinguishability of paths corresponding to possible exchange processes. Here we experimentally measure an interference signal that depends only on the multiparticle interference of four photons in a four-port interferometer despite pairs of them occupying distinguishable states.

Asymptotic Gaussian law for noninteracting indistinguishable particles in random networks.

For N indistinguishable bosons or fermions impinged on a M-port Haar-random unitary network the average probability to count n 1, … n r particles in a small number r ≪ N of binned-together output ports takes a Gaussian form as N ≫ 1. The discovered Gaussian asymptotic law is the well-known asymptotic law for distinguishable particles, governed by a multinomial distribution, modified by the quantum statistics with stronger effect for greater particle density N/M. Furthermore, it is shown that the same Gaussian law is the asymptotic form of the probability to count particles at the output bins of a fixed multiport with the averaging performed over all possible configurations of the particles in the input ports. In the limit N → ∞, the average counting probability for indistinguishable bosons, fermions, and distinguishable particles differs only at a non-vanishing particle density N/M and only for a singular binning K/M → 1, where K output ports belong to a single bin.

Interband resonant transitions in two-dimensional hexagonal lattices: Rabi oscillations, Zener tunnelling, and tunnelling of phase dislocations.

We study, analytically and numerically, the dynamics of interband transitions in two-dimensional hexagonal periodic photonic lattices. We develop an analytical approach employing the Bragg resonances of different types and derive the effective multi-level models of the Landau-Zener-Majorana type. For two-dimensional periodic potentials without a tilt, we demonstrate the possibility of the Rabi oscillations between the resonant Fourier amplitudes. In a biased lattice, i.e., for a two-dimensional periodic potential with an additional linear tilt, we identify three basic types of the interband transitions or Zener tunnelling. First, this is a quasi-one-dimensional tunnelling that involves only two Bloch bands and occurs when the Bloch index crosses the Bragg planes away from one of the high-symmetry points. In contrast, at the high-symmetry points (i.e., at the M and Gamma points), the Zener tunnelling is essentially two-dimensional, and it involves either three or six Bloch bands being described by the corresponding multi-level Landau-Zener-Majorana systems. We verify our analytical results by numerical simulations and observe an excellent agreement. Finally, we show that phase dislocations, or optical vortices, can tunnel between the spectral bands preserving their topological charge. Our theory describes the propagation of light beams in fabricated or optically-induced two-dimensional photonic lattices, but it can also be applied to the physics of cold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates tunnelling in tilted two-dimensional optical potentials and other types of resonant wave propagation in periodic media.

Bragg-resonance-induced Rabi oscillations in photonic lattices.

We show that propagation of optical beams in periodic lattices induces power oscillations between the Fourier spectrum peaks, with the indices related by the Bragg resonance condition. In the spatial coordinates, this is reflected in the beam position oscillations. A simple resonant theory explains the phenomenon. The effect can be used for controlled generation of the Floquet-Bloch modes in photonic lattices.

Resonant Zener tunneling in two-dimensional periodic photonic lattices.

We study Zener tunneling in two-dimensional photonic lattices and derive, for the case of hexagonal symmetry, the generalized Landau-Zener-Majorana model describing resonant interaction between high-symmetry points of the photonic spectral bands. We demonstrate that this effect can be employed for the generation of Floquet-Bloch modes and verify the model by direct numerical simulations of the tunneling effect.

Zener tunneling in two-dimensional photonic lattices.

We discuss the interband light tunneling in a two-dimensional periodic photonic structure, as studied recently in experiments for optically induced photonic lattices [Trompeter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 053903 (2006)]. We identify the Zener tunneling regime at the crossing of two Bloch bands, which occurs in the generic case of a Bragg reflection when the Bloch index crosses the edge of the irreducible Brillouin zone. Similarly, higher-order Zener tunneling involves four Bloch bands when the Bloch index passes through a high-symmetry point on the edge of the Brillouin zone. We derive simple analytical models that describe the tunneling effect, and calculate the corresponding tunneling probabilities.

Interaction of N solitons in the massive Thirring model and optical gap system: the complex Toda chain model.

Using the Karpman-Solov'ev quasiparticle approach for soliton-soliton interaction we show that the train propagation of N well-separated solitons of the massive Thirring model is described by the complex Toda chain with N nodes. For the optical gap system a generalized (nonintegrable) complex Toda chain is derived for description of the train propagation of well-separated gap solitons. These results are in favor of the recently proposed conjecture of universality of the complex Toda chain.