Pronounced non-Markovian features in multiply-excited, multiple-emitter waveguide-QED: Retardation-induced anomalous population trappin

Abstract: The Markovian approximation is widely applied in the field of quantum optics due to the weak frequency dependence of the vacuum field amplitude, and in consequence non-Markovian effects are typically regarded to play a minor role in the optical electron-photon interaction. Here, we give an example where non-Markovianity changes the qualitative behavior of a quantum optical system, rendering the Markovian approximation quantitatively and qualitatively insufficient. Namely, we study a multiple-emitter, multiple-excitation waveguide quantum-electrodynamic (waveguide-QED) system and include propagation time delay. In particular, we demonstrate anomalous population trapping as a result of the retardation in the excitation exchange between the waveguide and three initially excited emitters. Allowing for local phases in the emitter-waveguide coupling, this population trapping cannot be recovered using a Markovian treatment, proving the essential role of non-Markovian dynamics in the process. Furthermore, this time-delayed excitation exchange allows for a novel steady state, in which one emitter decays entirely to its ground state while the other two remain partially excited.