01386nas a2200193 4500008004100000245004800041210004700089260001500136520082300151100002300974700002300997700002101020700002101041700002401062700002501086700002701111700001701138856003701155 2018 eng d00aPhoton Subtraction by Many-Body Decoherence0 aPhoton Subtraction by ManyBody Decoherence c2018/03/133 a
We present an experimental and theoretical investigation of the scattering-induced decoherence of multiple photons stored in a strongly interacting atomic ensemble. We derive an exact solution to this many-body problem, allowing for a rigorous understanding of the underlying dissipative quantum dynamics. Combined with our experiments, this analysis demonstrates a correlated coherence-protection process, in which the induced decoherence of one photon can preserve the spatial coherence of all others. We discuss how this effect can be used to manipulate light at the quantum level, providing a robust mechanism for single-photon subtraction, and experimentally demonstrate this capability.
1 aMurray, Callum, R.1 aMirgorodskiy, Ivan1 aTresp, Christoph1 aBraun, Christoph1 aParis-Mandoki, Asaf1 aGorshkov, Alexey, V.1 aHofferberth, Sebastian1 aPohl, Thomas uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/1710.10047