Publications

A powerful result of topological band theory is that nontrivial phases manifest obstructions to constructing
localized Wannier functions. In Chern insulators, it is impossible to construct Wannier functions that respect
translational symmetry in both directions. Similarly, Wannier functions that respect time-reversal symmetry
cannot be formed in quantum spin Hall insulators. This molecular orbital interpretation of topology has been
enlightening and was recently extended to topological crystalline insulators which include obstructions tied to
space-group symmetries. In this paper, we introduce a class of two-dimensional topological materials known
as optical N-insulators that possess obstructions to construct localized molecular polarizabilities. The optical
N-invariant N ∈ Z is the winding number of the atomistic susceptibility tensor χ and counts the number of
singularities in the electromagnetic linear response theory. We decipher these singularities by analyzing the
optical band structure of the material—the eigenvectors of the susceptibility tensor—which constitutes the
collection of optical Bloch functions. The localized basis of these eigenvectors is optical Wannier functions
which characterize the molecular polarizabilities at different lattice sites. We prove that in a nontrivial optical
phase N = 0, such a localized polarization basis is impossible to construct. Utilizing the mathematical machinery
of K theory, these optical N-phases are refined further to account for the underlying crystalline symmetries of
the material, generating a complete classification of the topological electromagnetic phase of matter.

Germanium is typically used for solid-state electronics, fiber-optics, and infrared applications, due to its semiconducting behavior at optical and infrared wavelengths. In contrast, here we show that the germanium displays metallic nature and supports propagating surface plasmons in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) wavelengths, that is typically not possible to achieve with conventional plasmonic metals such as gold, silver, and aluminum. We measure the photonic band spectrum and distinguish the plasmonic excitation modes: bulk plasmons, surface plasmons, and Cherenkov radiation using a momentum-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy. The observed spectrum is validated through the macroscopic electrodynamic electron energy loss theory and first-principles density functional theory calculations. In the DUV regime, intraband transitions of valence electrons dominate over the interband transitions, resulting in the observed highly dispersive surface plasmons. We further employ these surface plasmons in germanium to design a DUV radiation source based on the Smith-Purcell effect. Our work opens a new frontier of DUV plasmonics to enable the development of DUV devices such as metasurfaces, detectors, and light sources based on plasmonic germanium thin films.

Quantum Machine Learning (QML) is an emerging research area advocating the use of quantum computing for advancement in machine learning. Since the discovery of the capability of Parametrized Variational Quantum Circuits (VQC) to replace Artificial Neural Networks, they have been widely adopted to different tasks in Quantum Machine Learning. However, despite their potential to outperform neural networks, VQCs are limited to small scale applications given the challenges in scalability of quantum circuits. To address this shortcoming, we propose an algorithm that compresses the quantum state within the circuit using a tensor ring representation. Using the input qubit state in the tensor ring representation, single qubit gates maintain the tensor ring representation. However, the same is not true for two qubit gates in general, where an approximation is used to have the output as a tensor ring representation. Using this approximation, the storage and computational time increases linearly in the number of qubits and number of layers, as compared to the exponential increase with exact simulation algorithms. This approximation is used to implement the tensor ring VQC. The training of the parameters of tensor ring VQC is performed using a gradient descent based algorithm, where efficient approaches for backpropagation are used. The proposed approach is evaluated on two datasets: Iris and MNIST for the classification task to show the improved accuracy using more number of qubits. We achieve a test accuracy of 83.33% on Iris dataset and a maximum of 99.30% and 76.31% on binary and ternary classification of MNIST dataset using various circuit architectures. The results from the IRIS dataset outperform the results on VQC implemented on Qiskit, and being scalable, demonstrates the potential for VQCs to be used for large scale Quantum Machine Learning applications.

One of the fundamental predictions of quantum mechanics is the occurrence of random fluctuations in a vacuum caused by zero-point energy. Remarkably, quantum electromagnetic fluctuations can induce a measurable force between neutral objects, known as the Casimir effect¹, and it has been studied both theoretically^2,3 and experimentally^4-9. The Casimir effect can dominate the interaction between microstructures at small separations and is essential for micro-and nanotechnologies^10,11. It has been utilized to realize nonlinear oscillation¹², quantum trapping¹³, phonon transfer^14,15, and dissipation dilution¹⁶. However, a non-reciprocal device based on quantum vacuum fluctuations remains an unexplored frontier. Here we report quantum-vacuum-mediated non-reciprocal energy transfer between two micromechanical oscillators. We parametrically modulate the Casimir interaction to realize a strong coupling between the two oscillators with different resonant frequencies. We engineer the system's spectrum such that it possesses an exceptional point^17-20 in the parameter space and explore the asymmetric topological structure in its vicinity. By dynamically changing the parameters near the exceptional point and utilizing the non-adiabaticity of the process, we achieve non-reciprocal energy transfer between the two oscillators with high contrast. Our work demonstrates a scheme that employs quantum vacuum fluctuations to regulate energy transfer at the nanoscale and may enable functional Casimir devices in the future.

Quantum causality is an emerging field of study which has the potential to greatly advance our understanding of quantum systems. In this paper, we put forth a new theoretical framework for merging quantum information science and causal inference by exploiting entropic principles. For this purpose, we leverage the tradeoff between the entropy of hidden cause and conditional mutual information of observed variables to develop a scalable algorithmic approach for inferring causality in the presence of latent confounders (common causes) in quantum systems. As an application, we consider a system of three entangled qubits and transmit the second and third qubits over separate noisy quantum channels. In this model, we validate that the first qubit is a latent confounder and the common cause of the second and third qubits. In contrast, when two entangled qubits are prepared and one of them is sent over a noisy channel, there is no common confounder. We also demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms the results of classical causal inference for Tubingen database when the variables are classical by exploiting quantum dependence between variables through density matrices rather than joint probability distributions. Thus, the proposed approach unifies classical and quantum causal inference in a principled way.

We numerically demonstrate that a planar slab made of magnetic Weyl semimetal (a class of topological materials) can emit high-purity circularly polarized (CP) thermal radiation over a broad mid- and long-wave infrared wavelength range for a significant portion of its emission solid angle. This effect fundamentally arises from the strong infrared gyrotropy or nonreciprocity of these materials, which primarily depends on the momentum separation between Weyl nodes in the band structure. We clarify the dependence of this effect on the underlying physical parameters and highlight that the spectral bandwidth of CP thermal emission increases with increasing momentum separation between the Weyl nodes. We also demonstrate, using the recently developed thermal discrete dipole approximation (TDDA) computational method, that finite-size bodies of magnetic Weyl semimetals can emit spectrally broadband CP thermal light, albeit over smaller portion of the emission solid angle compared to the planar slabs. Our work identifies unique fundamental and technological prospects of magnetic Weyl semimetals for engineering thermal radiation and designing efficient CP light sources.

Spontaneous emission of quantum emitters can be enhanced by increasing the local density of optical states, whereas engineering dipole–dipole interactions requires modifying the two-point spectral density function. Here, we experimentally demonstrate long-range dipole–dipole interactions (DDIs) mediated by surface lattice resonances in a plasmonic nanoparticle lattice. Using angle-resolved spectral measurements and fluorescence lifetime studies, we show that unique nanophotonic modes mediate long-range DDI between donor and acceptor molecules. We observe significant and persistent DDI strengths for a range of densities that map to ∼800 nm mean nearest-neighbor separation distance between donor and acceptor dipoles, a factor of ∼100 larger than free space. Our results pave the way to engineer and control long-range DDIs between an ensemble of emitters at room temperature.

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have emerged as promising room-temperature quantum sensors for probing condensed matter phenomena ranging from spin liquids, two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials, and magnons to hydrodynamic flow of current. Here we propose and demonstrate that the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond can be used as a quantum sensor for detecting the photonic spin density, the spatial distribution of light’s spin angular momentum. We exploit a single spin qubit on an atomic force microscope tip to probe the spinning field of an incident Gaussian light beam. The spinning field of light induces an effective static magnetic field in the single spin qubit probe. We perform room-temperature sensing using Bloch sphere operations driven by a microwave field (XY8 protocol). This nanoscale quantum magnetometer can measure the local polarization of light in ultra-sub-wavelength volumes. We also put forth a rigorous theory of the experimentally measured phase change using the NV center Hamiltonian and perturbation theory involving only virtual photon transitions. The direct detection of the photonic spin density at the nanoscale using NV centers in diamond opens interesting quantum metrological avenues for studying exotic phases of photons, nanoscale properties of structured light as well as future on-chip applications in spin quantum electrodynamics.

Classical structured light with controlled polarization and orbital angular momentum (OAM)of electromagnetic waves has varied applications in optical trapping, bio-sensing, optical communications, and quantum simulations. However, quantum noise and photon statistics of three-dimensional photonic angular momentum are relatively less explored. Here, we develop a quantum framework and put forth the concept of quantum structured light for space-time wavepackets at the single-photon level. Our work deals with three-dimensional angular momentum observables for twisted quantum pulses beyond scalar-field theory as well as the paraxial approximation. We show that the spin density generates modulated helical texture and exhibits distinct photon statistics for Fock-state vs. coherent-state twisted pulses. We introduce the quantum correlator of photon spin density to characterize nonlocal spin noise providing a rigorous parallel with electronic spin noise. Our work can lead to quantum spin-OAM physics in twisted single-photon pulses and opens explorations for phases of light with long-range spin order.

Spin-momentum locking is a universal wave phenomenon promising for applications in electronics and photonics. In acoustics, Lord Rayleigh showed that surface acoustic waves exhibit a characteristic elliptical particle motion strikingly similar to spin-momentum locking. Although these waves have become one of the few phononic technologies of industrial relevance, the observation of their transverse spin remained an open challenge. Here, we observe the full spin dynamics by detecting ultrafast electron cycloids driven by the gyrating electric field produced by a surface acoustic wave propagating on a slab of lithium niobate. A tubular quantum well wrapped around a nanowire serves as an ultrafast sensor tracking the full cyclic motion of electrons. Our acousto-optoelectrical approach opens previously unknown directions in the merged fields of nanoacoustics, nanophotonics, and nanoelectronics for future exploration.