Spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential-free Schrödinger equation

Abstract Photonic quantum emulator utilizes photons to emulate the quantum physical behavior of a complex quantum system. Recent study in spatiotemporal optics has enriched the toolbox for designing and manipulating complex spatiotemporal optical wavepackets, bringing new opportunities in building s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qian Cao, Nianjia Zhang, Andy Chong, Qiwen Zhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-08-01
Series:eLight
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s43593-025-00096-8
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849333146238058496
author Qian Cao
Nianjia Zhang
Andy Chong
Qiwen Zhan
author_facet Qian Cao
Nianjia Zhang
Andy Chong
Qiwen Zhan
author_sort Qian Cao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Photonic quantum emulator utilizes photons to emulate the quantum physical behavior of a complex quantum system. Recent study in spatiotemporal optics has enriched the toolbox for designing and manipulating complex spatiotemporal optical wavepackets, bringing new opportunities in building such quantum emulators. In this work, we demonstrate a new type of photonic quantum emulator enabled by spatiotemporal localized wavepackets with spherical harmonic symmetry. The spatiotemporal field distribution of these wavepackets has the same distributions of the wavefunction solutions to the potential-free Schrödinger equation with two controllable quantum numbers. A series of such localized wavepackets are experimentally generated with their localized feature verified. These localized wavepackets can propagate invariantly in space–time like particles, forming a new type of photonic quantum emulator that may provide new insight in studying quantum physics and open up new applications in studying light-matter interactions and quantum optics.
format Article
id doaj-art-e79b11b7fb1840a48ed8e7e0addfb121
institution Kabale University
issn 2097-1710
2662-8643
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher SpringerOpen
record_format Article
series eLight
spelling doaj-art-e79b11b7fb1840a48ed8e7e0addfb1212025-08-20T03:45:57ZengSpringerOpeneLight2097-17102662-86432025-08-01511810.1186/s43593-025-00096-8Spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential-free Schrödinger equationQian Cao0Nianjia Zhang1Andy Chong2Qiwen Zhan3School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and TechnologySchool of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and TechnologyDepartment of Physics, Pusan National UniversitySchool of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and TechnologyAbstract Photonic quantum emulator utilizes photons to emulate the quantum physical behavior of a complex quantum system. Recent study in spatiotemporal optics has enriched the toolbox for designing and manipulating complex spatiotemporal optical wavepackets, bringing new opportunities in building such quantum emulators. In this work, we demonstrate a new type of photonic quantum emulator enabled by spatiotemporal localized wavepackets with spherical harmonic symmetry. The spatiotemporal field distribution of these wavepackets has the same distributions of the wavefunction solutions to the potential-free Schrödinger equation with two controllable quantum numbers. A series of such localized wavepackets are experimentally generated with their localized feature verified. These localized wavepackets can propagate invariantly in space–time like particles, forming a new type of photonic quantum emulator that may provide new insight in studying quantum physics and open up new applications in studying light-matter interactions and quantum optics.https://doi.org/10.1186/s43593-025-00096-8Photonic quantum emulatorLocalized wavesSpherical harmonicsConformal mappingSpatiotemporal hologram
spellingShingle Qian Cao
Nianjia Zhang
Andy Chong
Qiwen Zhan
Spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential-free Schrödinger equation
eLight
Photonic quantum emulator
Localized waves
Spherical harmonics
Conformal mapping
Spatiotemporal hologram
title Spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential-free Schrödinger equation
title_full Spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential-free Schrödinger equation
title_fullStr Spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential-free Schrödinger equation
title_full_unstemmed Spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential-free Schrödinger equation
title_short Spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential-free Schrödinger equation
title_sort spatiotemporal photonic emulator of potential free schrodinger equation
topic Photonic quantum emulator
Localized waves
Spherical harmonics
Conformal mapping
Spatiotemporal hologram
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s43593-025-00096-8
work_keys_str_mv AT qiancao spatiotemporalphotonicemulatorofpotentialfreeschrodingerequation
AT nianjiazhang spatiotemporalphotonicemulatorofpotentialfreeschrodingerequation
AT andychong spatiotemporalphotonicemulatorofpotentialfreeschrodingerequation
AT qiwenzhan spatiotemporalphotonicemulatorofpotentialfreeschrodingerequation