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Nonreciprocal transition between two indirectly coupled energy levels

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Abstract

We propose a theoretical scheme to realize nonreciprocal transition between two energy levels that can not coupled directly. Suppose they are coupled indirectly by two auxiliary levels with a cyclic four-level configuration, and the four transitions in the cyclic configuration are controlled by external fields. The indirectly transition become nonreciprocal when the time reversal symmetry of the system is broken by the synthetic magnetic flux, i.e., the total phase of the external driving fields through the cyclic four-level configuration. The nonreciprocal transition can be identified by the elimination of a spectral line in the spontaneous emission spectrum. Our work introduces a feasible way to observe nonreciprocal transition in a wide range of multi-level systems, including natural atoms or ions with parity symmetry.

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Acknowledgements

X.-W. X. and H.-Q. S. are supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant No. 12064010, the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province of China under Grant No. 2021JJ20036, and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province of China under Grant No. 20192ACB21002. A.-X. C. is supported by NSFC under Grant No. 11775190.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory for Matter Microstructure and Function of Hunan Province, Department of Physics and Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, China

    Xun-Wei Xu

  2. Department of Applied Physics, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, 330013, China

    Xun-Wei Xu, Hai-Quan Shi & Ai-Xi Chen

  3. Department of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Ai-Xi Chen

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  1. Xun-Wei Xu
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Correspondence to Xun-Wei Xu or Ai-Xi Chen.

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arXiv: 2010.09604. This article can also be found at http://journal.hep.com.cn/fop/EN/10.1007/s11467-021-1138-x.

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Xu, XW., Shi, HQ. & Chen, AX. Nonreciprocal transition between two indirectly coupled energy levels. Front. Phys. 17, 42505 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-021-1138-x

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