Non-linear non-local molecular electrodynamics with nano-optical fields

The interaction of optical fields sculpted on the nano-scale with matter may not be described by the dipole approximation since the fields vary appreciably across the molecular length scale. Rather than incrementally adding higher multipoles it is advantageous and more physically transparent to describe the optical process using non-local response functions that intrinsically include all multipoles. We present a semi-classical approach to the non-linear response functions based on the minimal coupling Hamiltonian. The first, second and third order non-local response functions are expressed in terms of correlation functions of the charge and the current densities. This approach is based on the gauge invariant current rather than the polarization, and on the vector potential rather than the electric and magnetic fields.Comment: 21 pages with reference

Utilizing Microcavities to Suppress Third-order Cascades in Fifth-order Raman Spectra

Nonlinear optical signals in the condensed phase are often accompanied by sequences of lower-order processes, known as cascades, which share the same phase matching and power dependence on the incoming fields and are thus hard to distinguish. The suppression of cascading in order to reveal the desired nonlinear signal has been a major challenge in multidimensional Raman spectroscopy, i.e., the $\chi^{(5)}$ signal being masked by cascading signals given by a product of two $\chi^{(3)}$ processes. Since cascading originates from the exchange of a virtual photon between molecules, it can be manipulated by performing the experiment in an optical microcavity. Using a quantum electrodynamical (QED) treatment we demonstrate that the $\chi^{(3)}$ cascading contributions can be greatly suppressed. By optimizing the cavity size and the incoming pulse directions, we show that up to $\sim$99.5\% suppression of the cascading signal is possible.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures; Accepted by J. Phys. Chem. Let

Spin-Boson Model with Diagonal and Off-Diagonal Coupling to Two Independent Baths: Ground-State Phase Transition in the Deep Sub-Ohmic Regime

We investigate a spin-boson model with two boson baths that are coupled to two perpendicular components of the spin by employing the density matrix renormalization group method with an optimized boson basis. It is revealed that in the deep sub-Ohmic regime there exists a novel second-order phase transition between two types of doubly degenerate states, which is reduced to one of the usual type for nonzero tunneling. In addition, it is found that expectation values of the spin components display jumps at the phase boundary in the absence of bias and tunneling.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure