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A rigorous treatment of light-matter interactions typically requires an interacting quantum field theory. However, many practical results are often derived using classical or semiclassical approximations, which are valid only when quantum-field fluctuations can be neglected. This approximation breaks down in scenarios involving large light intensities or degenerate matter, where additional quantum effects become significant. In this work, we address these limitations by developing a quantum kinetic framework that treats both light and matter fields on equal footing, naturally incorporating both linear and nonlinear interactions. To accurately account for light fluctuations, we introduce a photon distribution function that, together with the classical electromagnetic fields, provides a better description of the photon fluid. From this formalism, we derive kinetic equations from first principles that recover classical electrodynamical results while revealing novel couplings absent in classical theory. Furthermore, by addressing the Coulomb interaction in the Hartree-Fock approximation, we include the role of fermionic exchange exactly in both the kinetic and fluid regimes through a generalized Fock potential. The latter provides corrections not only to the electrostatic forces but also to the plasma velocity field, which are important in degenerate conditions., Comment: Quantum kinetic theory, light matter interaction, quantum degeneracy, warm dense matter, laser-plasma interaction

The quantum diffusion of a vortex in a two-component quantum fluid of light is investigated. In these systems, the Kerr nonlinearity promotes interactions between the photons, displaying features that are analogue of a Bose-Einstein condensates. Quantum fluids of light have the advantage of simulating matter-wave phenomena at room temperatures. While the analogy is true at the mean field level, the full quantum dynamics of an impurity in quantum fluids of light of, and therefore the ability of featuring genuine quantum noise, has never been considered. We numerically solve the problem by simulating a vortex-like impurity in the presence of noise with the Bogoliubov spectral density, and show that the vortex undergoes superdiffusion. We support our results with a theory that has been previously developed for the brownian motion of point-like particles., Comment: Keywords: Quantum Fluids of Light, Quantum Polaron, Brownian Motion, Superdiffusion, Quantum Vortex

We study the dispersion properties of electron plasma waves, or plasmons, which can be excited in quantum plasmas in the nonlinear regime. In order to describe nonlinear electron response to finite amplitude plasmons, we apply the Volkov approach to non-relativistic electrons. For that purpose, we use the Schr\"odinger equation and describe the electron population of a quantum plasma as a mixture of quantum states. Within the kinetic framework that we are able to derive from the Volkov solutions, we discuss the role of the wave amplitude on the nonlinear plasma response. Finally, we focus on the quantum properties of nonlinear Landau damping and study the contributions of multi-plasmon absorption and emission processes., Comment: Plasmonics, quantum Landau damping, Volkov approach, nonlinear plasma waves (to appear in Phys. Rev. E)

Bose--Einstein condensation of a finite number of photons propagating inside a plasma-filled microcavity is investigated. The nonzero chemical potential is provided by the electrons, which induces a finite photon mass allowing condensation to occur. We derive an equation that models the evolution of the photon-mode occupancies, with Compton scattering taken into account as the mechanism of thermalization. The kinetic evolution of the photon spectrum is solved numerically, and we find evidences of condensation for realistic plasma densities, $n_e\sim 10^{14} - 10^{15}\; \text{cm}^{-3}$, compatible with microplasma technology. The critical temperature is almost linear in the number of photons, and we find high condensate fractions at microcavity-plasma temperatures, for experimentally reasonable cavity lengths ($ 100-500 \; \mu$m) and photon numbers ($10^{10}-10^{12}$).

The statistical properties of physical systems in thermal equilibrium are blatantly different from their far-from-equilibrium counterparts. In the latter, fluctuations often dominate the dynamics and might cluster in ordered patterns in the form of dissipative coherent structures. Here, we study the transition of a cold atomic cloud, driven close to a sharp electronic resonance, from a stable to a turbulent phase. From the atomic density distribution -- measured using a spatially-resolved pump-probe technique -- we have computed the Shannon entropy on two different basis sets. Information compression, corresponding to a minimum in the Shannon entropy, has been observed at criticality, where the system fluctuations organize into high-order (low-entropy) patterns. Being independent of the representation used, this feature is a property shared by a vast class of physical systems undergoing phase transitions., Comment: information compression, turbulent-phase transition, cold atoms, critical opalescence, second-order phase transition

Soliton hydrodynamics is an appealing tool to describe strong turbulence in low-dimensional systems. Strong turbulence in quasi-one dimensional spuerfluids, such as Bose-Einstein condensates, involves the dynamics of dark solitons and, therefore, the description of a statistical ensemble of dark-solitons, i.e. soliton gases, is necessary. In this work, we propose a phase-space (kinetic) description of dark-soliton gases, introducing a kinetic equation that is formally similar to the Vlasov equation in plasma physics. We show that the proposed kinetic theory can capture the dynamical features of soliton gases and show that it sustains an acoustic mode, a fact that we corroborate with the help of direct numerical simulations. Our findings motivate the investigation of the microscopic structure of out-of-equilibrium and turbulent regimes in low-dimensional superfluids., Comment: Keywords: superfluids, low-dimensional quantum turbulence, dark soliton, solitonic turbulence, kinetic equation, first sound

We study the quantum motion of an impurity atom immersed in a Bose Einstein condensate in arbitrary dimension. The Bogoliubov excitations of the Bose Einstein condensate act as a bosonic bath for the impurity. We present a detailed derivation of the $d$-dimensional Langevin equations that describe the quantum dynamics of the system, and of the associated generalized tensor that describes the spectral density in the full generality. When the impurity is not trapped, we calculate the mean square displacement, showing that the motion is super diffusive. We obtain also explicit expressions for the super diffusive coefficient in the small and large temperature limits. We find that, in the latter case, the maximal value of this coefficient is the same in all dimensions. We study also the behaviour of the average energy and compare the results for various dimensions. In the trapped case, we study squeezing and find that the stronger position squeezing can be obtained in lower dimensions. We quantify the non-Markovianity of the particle's motion, and find that it increases with dimensionality., Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures

We present a scheme leading to ground-state cooling of the fundamental out-of-plane (flexural) mode of a suspended graphene sheet. Our proposal exploits the coupling between a driven Rydberg atom and the graphene resonator, which is enabled by vacuum forces. Thanks to the large atomic polarizability of the Rydberg states, the Casimir-Polder force is several orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding force achieved for atoms in the ground state. By playing with the distance between the atom and the graphene membrane, we show that resolved sideband cooling is possible, bringing the occupation number of the fundamental flexural mode down to its quantum limit. Our findings are expected to motivate physical applications of graphene at extremely low temperatures., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

We have studied collective recoil lasing by a cold atomic gas, scattering photons from an incident laser into many radiation modes in free space. The model consists of a system of classical equations for the atomic motion of N atoms, where the radiation field has been adiabatically eliminated. We performed numerical simulations using a molecular dynamics code, Pretty Efficient Parallel Coulomb Solver or PEPC, to track the trajectories of the atoms. These simulations show the formation of an atomic density grating and collective enhancement of scattered light, both of which are sensitive to the shape and orientation of the atomic cloud. In the case of an initially circular cloud, the dynamical evolution of the cloud shape plays an important role in the development of the density grating and collective scattering. The ability to use efficient molecular dynamics codes will be a useful tool for the study of the multimode interaction between light and cold gases.

Axions, the hypothetical particles restoring the charge-parity symmetry in the strong sector of the Standard Model, and one of the most prone candidates for dark matter, are well-known to interact with plasmas. In a recent publication [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 120}, 181803 (2018)], we have shown that if the plasma dynamically responds to the presence of axions, then a new quasi-particle (the axion plasmon-polariton) can be formed, being at the basis of a new generation of plasma-based detection techniques. In this work, we exploit the axion-plasmon hybridization to actively produce axions in streaming magnetized plasmas. We show that, if we make the plasma unstable via the injection of an energetic electron beam (beam-plasma instability), an appreciable production rate of few axions per minute can be achieved. The produced axions can then be detected by Primakoff decay into photons., Comment: Axions, axion-plasmon polaritons, beam-plasma instability, axion production in plasmas, neutron stars, pulsars

We propose to amplify and compress an ultrashort Light Spring laser seed with a long Gaussian-shaped laser pump through Raman amplification. This Light Spring, which has a helical spatio-temporal intensity profile, can be built on the superposition of three distinct laser frequency components. In order to get an independent frequency amplification, two criteria are established. Besides these criteria, a non equal frequency separation is necessary to avoid resonance overlapping when three or more frequencies are involved. The independent set of equations, which describes the wave-wave interaction in a plasma, is solved numerically for two different Light Spring configurations. In both cases, the amplification and transversal compression of the seed laser pulse have been observed, with a final profile similar to that of the usual Gaussian-shaped seed pulses. In addition, two different kinds of helical plasma waves are excited., Comment: Submitted to Physics of Plasma, 10 pages, 5 figures

We propose a twisted plasma accelerator capable of generating relativistic electron vortex beams with helical current profiles. The angular momentum of these vortex bunches is quantized, dominates their transverse motion, and results in spiraling particle trajectories around the twisted wakefield. We focus on a laser wakefield acceleration scenario, driven by a laser beam with a helical spatiotemporal intensity profile, also known as a light spring. We find that these light springs can rotate as they excite the twisted plasma wakefield, providing a new mechanism to control the twisted wakefield phase velocity and enhance energy gain and trapping efficiency beyond planar wakefields., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters

The first experimental measurements of vorticity and vorticity flux in a fusion device were performed in tokamak ISTTOK. This is an important achievement since vorticity plays a key role in the transport of energy and particles in plasmas and fluids. The measurements were performed with a specifically designed array of Langmuir probes in the plasma edge of the small tokamak ISTTOK. The experimental results presented in this paper, allowing for the first time a direct comparison with theoretical models, show that the vorticity flux feeds into the shear flow in the tokamak plasma edge region. The Probability Distribution Function of the vorticity exhibit fat tails with a q-Gaussian shape typical of a non-equilibrium process. Self-similarity in the probability distribution function of several parameters, including vorticity and vorticity flux, is observed indicating that there is no morphological change in the coherent structures in the plasma boundary region and that the fluctuations in the Reynolds stress, vorticity and vorticity flux follow a universal shape., Comment: 8 figures

We report on the self-induced electron trapping occurring in a ultracold neutral plasma that is set to expand freely. At the early stages of the plasma, the ions are not thermalized follow a Gaussian spatial profile, providing the trapping to the coldest electrons. In the present work, we provide a theoretical model describing the electrostatic potential and perform molecular dynamics simulations to validate our findings. We show that in the strong confinement regime, the plasma potential is of a Thomas-Fermi type, similar to the case of heavy atomic species. The numerically simulated spatial profiles of the particles corroborate this claim. We also extract the electron temperature and coupling parameter from the simulation, so the duration of the transient Thomas-Fermi is obtained.

We consider Landau damping of elementary excitations in Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) with dipolar interactions. We discuss quantum and quasi-classical regimes of Landau damping. We use a generalized wave-kinetic description of BECs which, apart from the long range dipolar interactions, also takes into account the quantum fluctuations and the finite energy corrections to short-range interactions. Such a description is therefore more general than the usual mean field approximation. The present wave-kinetic approach is well suited for the study of kinetic effects in BECs, such as those associated with Landau damping, atom trapping and turbulent diffusion. The inclusion of quantum fluctuations and energy corrections change the dispersion relation and the damping rates, leading to possible experimental signatures of these effects. Quantum Landau damping is described with generality, and particular examples of dipole condensates in two and three dimensions are studied. The occurrence of roton-maxon configurations, and their relevance to Landau damping is also considered in detail, as well as the changes introduced by the three different processes, associated with dipolar interactions, quantum fluctuations and finite energy range collisions. The present approach is mainly based on a linear perturbative procedure, but the nonlinear regime of Landau damping, which includes atom trapping and atom diffusion, is also briefly discussed., Comment: Quantum fluctuations, LHY correction, Landau damping, roton minimum, dipolar Bose gases

Axions are hypothetical particles related to the violation of the charge-parity symmetry, being the most prone candidates for dark matter. Multiple attempts to prove their existence are currently performed in different physical systems. Here, we anticipate the possibility of the axions coupling to the electrostatic (Langmuir) modes of a strongly magnetized plasma, by showing that a new quasi-particle can be defined, the axion-plasmon polariton. The excitation of axions can be inferred from the pronounced modification of the dispersion relation of the Langmuir waves, a feature that we estimate to be accessible in state-of-the-art plasma-based experiments. We further show that, under extreme density and magnetic field conditions (e.g. at the interior of dense neutron stars), the axion-plasmon polariton becomes dynamically unstable, similarly to the case of the Jeans instability occurring in self-gravitating fluids. This latter result anticipates a plausible mechanism to the creation of axion-like particles in the universe., Comment: Axions, polaritons, avoided crossing, dynamical instability, axion-like particles, magnetized plasmas

Using a quantum fluid model, a set of three paraxial coupled equations to describe the FEL instability is derived. These equations are solved numerically considering Laguerre-Gaussian modes as the initial conditions to study the transfer of orbital angular momentum (OAM) between them, which satisfies the total angular momentum conservation as matching condition. The amplification and compression of the output radiation is observed and using the separation of variables method, the set of coupled equations, which describes a $\pi$-pulse solution, is obtained in such a way that a transverse overlapping factor, R, governs the energy exchange efficiency of the process.

Starting from a three-wave interaction system of equations for free-electron lasers in the framework of a quantum fluid model, we show that these equations satisfy the Sine-Gordon equation. The full solution in space and in time of this set of equations are numerically obtained., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

We study the Bose-Einstein condensation of photons in a plasma, where we include the cases of both transverse photons and plasmons. We consider four-wave mixing processes of photon and plasmon modes in a relativistic isotropic plasma to determine the coupling constant to lowest order. We further show that photon condensation is possible in an unbounded plasma because, in contrast with other optical media, plasmas introduce an effective photon mass. This guarantees the existence of a finite chemical potential and a critical temperature, which is calculated for both transverse photons and plasmons. By considering four-wave mixing processes, we derive the interactions between the photons in the condensate. We also study the elementary excitations (or Bogoliubov modes) of the condensed photon and plasmon gases, and determine the respective dispersion relations. Finally, we discuss the kinetics of photon condensation via inverse Compton scattering between the photons and the electrons in the plasma., Comment: Photon BEC, four-wave mixing, kinetic equations, quantisation, Bogoliubov spectrum

We identify and explore a high orbital angular momentum (OAM) harmonics generation and amplification mechanism that manipulates the OAM independently of any other laser property, by preserving the initial laser wavelength, through stimulated Raman backscattering in a plasma. The high OAM harmonics spectra can extend at least up to the limiting value imposed by the paraxial approximation. We show with theory and particle-in-cell simulations that the orders of the OAM harmonics can be tuned according to a selection rule that depends on the initial OAM of the interacting waves. We illustrate the high OAM harmonics generation in a plasma using several examples including the generation of prime OAM harmonics. The process can also be realised in any nonlinear optical Kerr media supporting three-wave interactions., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures (accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters)

Twisted Laguerre-Gaussian lasers, with orbital angular momentum and characterised by doughnut shaped intensity profiles, provide a transformative set of tools and research directions in a growing range of fields and applications, from super-resolution microcopy and ultra-fast optical communications to quantum computing and astrophysics. The impact of twisted light is widening as recent numerical calculations provided solutions to long-standing challenges in plasma-based acceleration by allowing for high gradient positron acceleration. The production of ultrahigh intensity twisted laser pulses could then also have a broad influence on relativistic laser-matter interactions. Here we show theoretically and with ab-initio three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, that stimulated Raman backscattering can generate and amplify twisted lasers to Petawatt intensities in plasmas. This work may open new research directions in non-linear optics and high energy density science, compact plasma based accelerators and light sources., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

We consider the excitation of Rydberg states through photons carrying an intrinsic orbital angular momentum degree of freedom. Laguerre-Gauss modes, with a helical wave-front structure, correspond to such a set of laser beams, which carry some units of orbital angular momentum in their propagation direction. We demonstrate that, in a proper geometrical setting, this orbital angular momentum can be transferred to the internal degrees of freedom of the atoms, thus violating the standard dipolar selection rules. Higher orbital angular momentum states become accessible through a single photon excitation process. We investigate how the spacial structure of the Laguerre-Gauss beam affects the radial coupling strength, assuming the simplest case of hydrogen-like wavefunctions. Finally we discuss a generalization of the angular momentum coupling, in order to include the effects of the fine and hyperfine splitting, in the context of the Wigner-Eckart theorem., Comment: Submitted to J. Phys. B - Special Issue on Cold Rydberg Atoms

We develop a kinetic theory for twisted density waves (phonons), carrying a finite amount of orbital angular momentum, in large magneto optical traps, where the collective processes due to the exchange of scattered photons are considered. Explicit expressions for the dispersion relation and for the kinetic (Landau) damping are derived and contributions from the orbital angular momentum are discussed. We show that for rotating clouds, exhibiting ring-shaped structures, phonons carrying orbital angular momentum can cross the instability threshold and grow out of noise, while the usual plane wave solutions are kinetically damped., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

We experimentally determine the equation of state of a laser cooled gas. By employing the Lane-Emden formalism, widely used in astrophysics, we derive the equilibrium atomic profiles in large magneto optical traps where the thermodynamic effects are cast in a polytropic equation of state. The effects of multiple scattering of light are included, which results in a generalized Lane-Emden equation for the atomic profiles. A detailed experimental investigation reveals an excellent agreement with the model, with a two-fold significance. In one hand, we can infer on the details of the equation of state of the system, from an ideal gas to a correlated phase due to an effective electrical charge for the atoms, which is accurately described by a microscopical description of the effective electrostatic interaction. On the other hand, we are able map the effects of multiple scattering onto directly controllable experimental variables, which paves the way to subsequent experimental investigations of this collective interaction., Comment: 4+2 pages, 3 figures

Starting from the Wigner-Moyal equation coupled to Poisson's equation, a simplified set of equations describing nonlinear Landau damping of Langmuir waves is derived. This system is studied numerically, with a particular focus on the transition from the classical to the quantum regime. In the quantum regime several new features are found. This includes a quantum modified bounce frequency, and the discovery that bounce-like amplitude oscillations can take place even in the absence of trapped particles. The implications of our results are discussed., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures

We consider the mechanical coupling between a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate with a graphene sheet via the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field which are at the origin of the so-called Casimir-Polder potential. By deriving a self-consistent set of equations governing the dynamics of the condensate and the flexural (out-of-plane) modes of the graphene, we can show the formation of a new type of purely acoustic quasi-particle excitation, a phonon-polariton resulting from the coherent superposition of quanta of flexural and Bogoliubov modes., Comment: 6+epsilon pages, 4 figures

The multiple scattering of light in a gas of ultra cold atoms is responsible for many exciting features observed in magneto-optical traps including the collective behavior forced by a Coulomb like potential. This field also induces plasma like phenomena in the cloud which allows the treatment of the system as a one component trapped plasma. With a fluid description and casting the thermodynamical behavior in the form of a polytropic equation of state we investigate the equilibrium profiles of rotating clouds and its dependence on the experiment characteristics. Numerical solutions predict the formation of stable orbital modes both in rotating and non rotating clouds. We also investigate the normal modes on such rotating systems.

We show analytically and through three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that non-linear wakefields driven by Laguerre-Gaussian laser pulses can lead to hollow electron self-injection and positron acceleration. We find that higher order lasers can drive donut shaped blowout wakefields with strong positron accelerating gradients comparable to those of a spherical bubble. Corresponding positron focusing forces can be more than an order of magnitude stronger than electron focusing forces in a spherical bubble. Required laser intensities and energies to reach the non-linear donut shaped blowout are within state-of-the-art experimental conditions., Comment: 12 pages; submitted for publication

Non-linear wave-driven processes in plasmas are normally described by either a monochromatic pump wave that couples to other monochromatic waves, or as a random phase wave coupling to other random phase waves. An alternative approach involves an incoherent, random or broadband pump coupling to monochromatic and/or coherent structures in the plasma. This approach can be implemented through the wave kinetic model. In this model, the incoming pump wave is described by either a bunch (for coherent waves) or a sea (for random phase waves) of quasi-particles. A particle-in-cell type code has been developed to perform numerical simulations of such interactions using the quasi-particle approach. This code allows for a comparatively easy description of both random phase and coherent pump pulses coupling to slow electrostatic plasma waves, while providing an extended range of powerful diagnostics leading to a deeper physical insight into the dynamics of the fast waves. As an example, the propagation of short, intense laser pulses through a plasma has been simulated. A sample of the phenomena that can be studied for this case includes modulational instabilities, photon wave breaking and turbulence, and pulse compression, stretching, and chirping. The extensibility of the numerical implementation to other types of fast wave-slow wave interactions is also discussed., Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures

We consider elementary excitations in a Bose Einstein condensate, carrying a finite amount of angular momentum. We show that these elementary excitations are modified Bogoliubov oscillations, or phonons with an helical wave structure. These twisted phonon modes can contribute to the total vorticity in a quantum fluid, thus complementing the contribution of the traditional quantum vortices. Linear and nonlinear versions of twisted phonon modes will be discussed. New envelope soliton solutions are shown to exist in a condensate., Comment: 12 pages, no figures

We present a brief review on a new dynamical mechanism for a strong field effect in scalar tensor theory. Starting with a summary of the essential features of the theory and subsequent work by several authors, we analytically investigate the parametric excitation of a scalar gravitational field in a spherically symmetric radially pulsating neutron star., Comment: 15 pages

A Friedman cosmology is investigated based on scalar-tensor gravitation with general metric coupling and scalar potential functions. We show that for a broad class of such functions, the scalar field can be dynamically trapped using a recently suggested mechanism. The trapped scalar can drive inflation and accelerated cosmic expansion, compatible with standard requirements. The inflationary phase admits a natural exit with a value of the Hubble parameter dictated by the duration of inflation in a parameter independent manner. For inflationary duration consistent with the GUT description, the resulting Hubble parameter is found to be consistent with its observed value., Comment: 6 pages; version accepted by PLA