Researchers Aritra Ghosh, Nilamoni Daloi, and M. Bhattacharya from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati have proposed a novel method for sensing superfluid rotation using non-Hermitian optical dimers. Their work, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, explores the interaction between light and matter to develop a robust sensing technique with potential applications in the energy sector.
The researchers theoretically investigate a system where a passive optical cavity is coupled with a ring-trapped Bose-Einstein condensate, a state of matter where atoms behave as a single quantum entity. The cavity is driven by a two-tone control laser, with each tone carrying orbital angular momenta. This setup creates an optical lattice that induces specific excitations in the atomic system.
By analyzing the light-matter dynamics, the researchers derive a frequency-dependent self-energy and identify a static regime where the atomic response alters the optical mode of the cavity. This renormalized system supports a tunable exceptional point, a unique feature in non-Hermitian systems where two eigenvalues and their corresponding eigenvectors coalesce. This phenomenon leads to distinctive signatures in the optical transmission, which can be used to estimate the winding number of the persistent current in the superfluid.
The proposed sensing scheme leverages the topological charge associated with the exceptional point, offering a noise-resilient method to detect superfluid rotation. Unlike conventional techniques, this approach does not rely on fragile eigenvalue splittings and is intrinsically non-destructive, preserving the coherence of the atomic superfluid.
In the energy sector, this research could pave the way for advanced sensing technologies in quantum systems, particularly in the development of ultra-precise sensors for energy storage and conversion applications. The ability to detect superfluid rotation without destroying the system’s coherence could be particularly valuable in the design of efficient and durable energy storage solutions.
The research was published in Physical Review Letters, a prestigious journal in the field of physics. While the current study is theoretical, the proposed sensing scheme holds promise for practical applications in the energy industry, contributing to the ongoing efforts to harness quantum technologies for energy solutions.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.