Time-reversal-symmetry breaking in circuit-QED-based photon lattices

Publication Year
2010

Type

Journal Article
Journal
Phys. Rev. A
Volume
82
Pages
043811
Date Published
10/2010

Breaking time-reversal symmetry is a prerequisite for accessing certain interesting many-body states such as fractional quantum Hall states. For polaritons, charge neutrality prevents magnetic fields from providing a direct symmetry-breaking mechanism and, similar to the situation in ultracold atomic gases, an effective magnetic field has to be synthesized. We show that in the circuit-QED architecture, this can be achieved by inserting simple superconducting circuits into the resonator junctions.