Quantum Rabi hexagonal ring in an artificial magnetic field (2304.01535v1)

Abstract: We present exotic quantum phases in a quantum Rabi hexagonal ring, which is derived by an analytical solution. We find that an artificial magnetic field applied in the ring induces an effect magnetic flux in the even and odd subring. It gives rise to two chiral quantum phases besides a ferro-superradiant and an antiferro-superradiant phases. With analogy to the magnetic system, two chiral phases are distinguished by the magnetization orientation in the $xy$ plane in two subrings, which correspond to skyrmion structures with different vorticity. In such chiral phases, photons in the subrings triangle flow in the same or opposite directions by comparing to the current in the hexagonal ring, which depend on the signs of the induced magnetic flux in the subrings. Interestingly, the critical exponents of the excitation energy in two chiral phases are the same as that of the subring triangle, exhibiting subring-size dependent critical exponents. Our analysis can be straightforwardly extended to a larger lattice size with subrings of a triangular or hexagonal structure, predicting a novel universality class of superradiant phase transitions. An implementation of the system considered is an exciting prospect in quantum many-body simulations of light-matter interactions in future.