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Intense quantum light generates ‘weird’ electron behavior

Photon-number distributions of various light sources have been studied extensively, but little is known about the statistical distribution of electrons emitted under the effect of intense quantum light.

However, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have made a discovery that highlights this phenomenon.

Published in the journal Nature Physics, the study led by Prof. Maria Chekhova at MPL and Prof. Peter Hommelhoff at FAU reveals extreme and highly unusual statistical events in electron-number distributions obtained when nanometer-sized metal needle tips are illuminated with ultrashort pulses of bright quantum light.

Researchers suppress non-Hermitian effects via ‘fake’ magnetic fields

Due to the presence of non-Hermitian components, wave intensities tend to localize at the system boundary, namely the non-Hermitian skin effect. The skin behavior is protected by topology, making it insensitive to minor changes. Nevertheless, it has recently been shown that the non-Hermitian skin effect can be suppressed by real magnetic fields.

Zhang, Xue, and Zhang’s graduate student Hau Tian Teo wondered, “Can a ‘fake’ —pseudomagnetic field—also suppress the non-Hermitian skin effect?” The team then performed on a two-dimensional lattice array to study the topology and movement of the skin behavior.

By switching on the pseudomagnetic field, the team discovered that the skin states can be pushed into the bulk. “This movement from skin to bulk can be precisely traced by a theoretically predicted trajectory,” Teo suggests. In addition to the movement, the suppression is reflected in the reduction of topological number.

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