Jörg Evers

Lorentz meets Fano in spectral line shapes: a universal phase and its laser control.

A Phase for Fano In spectroscopy, samples placed between a steady light source and a detector are characterized based on the relative intensities of light absorbed at different frequencies. Temporal behavior—the relaxation of a photoexcited state—can be indirectly inferred from the absorption band shapes. The advent of ultrafast laser technology has enabled increasingly sophisticated measurements directly in the time domain. Ott et al. (p. 716; see the Perspective by Lin and Chu) present an analytical framework to account for asymmetric band shapes, termed Fano profiles, on the basis of a phase shift in the temporal dipole response. An analytical framework bolstered by attosecond spectroscopy conveys a clear understanding of asymmetric spectral line shapes. [Also see Perspective by Lin and Chu] Symmetric Lorentzian and asymmetric Fano line shapes are fundamental spectroscopic signatures that quantify the structural and dynamical properties of nuclei, atoms, molecules, and solids. This study introduces a universal temporal-phase formalism, mapping the Fano asymmetry parameter q to a phase ϕ of the time-dependent dipole response function. The formalism is confirmed experimentally by laser-transforming Fano absorption lines of autoionizing helium into Lorentzian lines after attosecond-pulsed excitation. We also demonstrate the inverse, the transformation of a naturally Lorentzian line into a Fano profile. A further application of this formalism uses quantum-phase control to amplify extreme-ultraviolet light resonantly interacting with He atoms. The quantum phase of excited states and its response to interactions can thus be extracted from line-shape analysis, with applications in many branches of spectroscopy.

A problematic set of two-loop self-energy corrections

We investigate a specific set of two-loop self-energy corrections involving squared decay rates and point out that their interpretation is highly problematic. The corrections cannot be interpreted as radiative energy shifts in the usual sense. Some of the problematic corrections find a natural interpretation as radiative nonresonant corrections to the natural line shape. They cannot uniquely be associated with one and only one atomic level. While the problematic corrections are rather tiny when expressed in units of frequency (a few hertz for hydrogenic P levels) and do not affect the reliability of quantum electrodynamics at the current level of experimental accuracy, they may be of importance for future experiments. The problems are connected with the limitations of the so-called asymptotic-state approximation, which means that atomic in- and out-states in the S-matrix are assumed to have an infinite lifetime.

Nuclear Quantum Optics with X-Ray Laser Pulses

The direct interaction of nuclei with superintense laser fields is studied. We show that present and upcoming high-frequency laser facilities, especially together with a moderate acceleration of the target nuclei to match photon and transition frequency, do allow for resonant laser-nucleus interaction. These direct interactions may be utilized for the model-independent optical measurement of nuclear properties such as the transition frequency and the dipole moment, thus opening the field of nuclear quantum optics. As an ultimate goal, one may hope that direct laser-nucleus interactions could become a versatile tool to enhance preparation, control, and detection in nuclear physics.

Vacuum-assisted generation and control of atomic coherences at x-ray energies.

The control of light-matter interaction at the quantum level usually requires coherent laser fields. But already an exchange of virtual photons with the electromagnetic vacuum field alone can lead to quantum coherences, which subsequently suppress spontaneous emission. We demonstrate such spontaneously generated coherences (SGC) in a large ensemble of nuclei operating in the x-ray regime, resonantly coupled to a common cavity environment. The observed SGC originates from two fundamentally different mechanisms related to cooperative emission and magnetically controlled anisotropy of the cavity vacuum. This approach opens new perspectives for quantum control, quantum state engineering and simulation of quantum many-body physics in an essentially decoherence-free setting.

Two-mode single-atom laser as a source of entangled light

A two-mode single-atom laser is considered, with the aim of generating entanglement in macroscopic light. Two transitions in the four-level gain medium atom independently interact with the two cavity modes, while two other transitions are driven by control laser fields. Atomic relaxation as well as cavity losses are taken into account. We show that this system is a source of macroscopic entangled light over a wide range of control parameters and initial states of the cavity field.

Full counting statistics of laser excited Rydberg aggregates in a one-dimensional geometry

We experimentally study the full counting statistics of few-body Rydberg aggregates excited from a quasi-one-dimensional atomic gas. We measure asymmetric excitation spectra and increased second and third order statistical moments of the Rydberg number distribution, from which we determine the average aggregate size. Estimating rates for different excitation processes we conclude that the aggregates grow sequentially around an initial grain. Direct comparison with numerical simulations confirms this conclusion and reveals the presence of liquidlike spatial correlations. Our findings demonstrate the importance of dephasing in strongly correlated Rydberg gases and introduce a way to study spatial correlations in interacting many-body quantum systems without imaging.

X-ray quantum optics

Quantum optics with X-rays has long been a somewhat exotic activity, but it is now rapidly becoming relevant as precision x-ray optics and novel X-ray light sources, and high-intensity lasers are becoming available. This article gives an overview of the current state of the field and an outlook to future prospects.

Interferometric phase detection at x-ray energies via Fano resonance control

Modern x-ray light sources promise access to structure and dynamics of matter in largely unexplored spectral regions. However, the desired information is encoded in the light intensity and phase, whereas detectors register only the intensity. This phase problem is ubiquitous in crystallography and imaging and impedes the exploration of quantum effects at x-ray energies. Here, we demonstrate phase-sensitive measurements characterizing the quantum state of a nuclear two-level system at hard x-ray energies. The nuclei are initially prepared in a superposition state. Subsequently, the relative phase of this superposition is interferometrically reconstructed from the emitted x rays. Our results form a first step towards x-ray quantum state tomography and provide new avenues for structure determination and precision metrology via x-ray Fano interference.

Spontaneous emission interference in negative-refractive-index waveguides

The spontaneous decay of a

Measurement of the separation between atoms beyond diffraction limit

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