Photon-Mediated Interactions Between Distant Artificial Atoms

Abstract

Artificial Complexity Quantum optics probes the interactions between light and matter. Building up from a simple, single-atom system, the exchange of virtual photons between systems of several (or many) atoms is expected to give rise to many exotic effects. Because controlling the separation of the atoms on the atomic scale is experimentally challenging, artificial atom systems may provide a more tractable route for systematic study, as described by van Loo et al. (p. 1494 , published online 14 November). Using a system of two separate superconducting qubits in a microwave transmission line, they show how the interaction between the two qubits can be controlled and mediated by electromagnetic modes. The results illustrate a feasible route to probing the complexity of many-body effects that may otherwise be difficult to realize.