Condensed Matter Seminar: Quantum light-matter interface with atom arrays: photon-photon interactions and more

A quantum-coherent interface between propagating photons and atomic-like degrees of freedom constitutes a fundamental ingredient in a wide range of applications in quantum science and technology: from quantum memories and communication, to the study of many-body physic with photons. I will describe a new paradigm for creating such an atom-photon interface, by exploiting the collective response to light of an array of atoms trapped in free space. I will focus on analogies between this free-space system and atom-photon scattering inside waveguide systems. Using such "waveguide QED" picture I will discuss our (theoretical) results on photon correlations and entanglement generated at collective Rydberg resonances of the atom array. These ideas provide a natural route for interfacing the emerging platform of atom-array quantum processors with propagating photonic qubits.