Spinons and holons with polarized photons in a nonlinear waveguide

Abstract

We show that the spin-charge separation predicted for correlated fermions in one dimension could be observed using polarized photons propagating in a nonlinear optical waveguide. Using coherent control techniques and employing a cold atom ensemble interacting with the photons, large nonlinearities in the single-photon level can be achieved. We show that the latter can allow for the simulation of a strongly interacting gas, which is made of stationary dark-state polaritons of two species and is shown to form a Luttinger liquid of effective fermions for the right regime of interactions. The system can be tuned optically to the relevant regime where the spin-charge separation is expected to occur. The characteristic features of the separation as demonstrated in different spin and charge densities and velocities can be efficiently detected via optical measurements of the emitted photons with current optical technologies. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.