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Extended Quantum Kinetic Approach to Strongly Coupled Atom-Photon Systems
Francesco Piazza, Innsbruck University, MPIPKS Dresden
16.12.2016 at 09:00
Recent experimental progress in achieving strong coupling between neutral atoms and electromagnetic fields, as realised using optical cavities or fibers, opens up new scenarios in many-body physics. Indeed, the unusual combination of light-mediated long-range retarded interactions between quantum degenerate atoms together with the driven/dissipative nature of photons potentially violates known paradigms in quantum field theory and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, at the same time requiring novel quantum-field theoretical approaches for its description. In this talk I will consider examples of peculiar relaxation dynamics of neutral atoms coupled to the electromagnetic field of a lossy optical cavity. I will describe the extension of standard quantum kinetic approaches which is required to study such problems and illustrate two main results: i) the existence of non-thermal steady-states of quantum degenerate atoms with broad power-law tails, ii) the possibility of critical algebraic dynamics without quasiparticles due to the interplay of collisional and bath-induced relaxation.
A 450, Theresienstr. 37