Multipolar Light-Matter Hamiltonians in Symmetry-Breaking Photonic Vacuums

Abstract:We show that the conventional multipolar Hamiltonian is qualitatively modified when the photonic vacuum breaks inversion or time-reversal symmetry. By explicitly applying the Power-Zienau-Woolley transformation, we derive the resulting multipolar Hamiltonians for two idealized chiral photonic environments: a spatial-chiral vacuum, which breaks inversion symmetry, and a temporal-chiral vacuum, which breaks time-reversal symmetry. In the spatial-chiral case, the transformation generates an inversion-breaking self-energy, whereas in the temporal-chiral case it produces an additional Zeeman-like energy. Using a trapped hydrogen-like atom and a charged harmonic oscillator in cavities as minimal examples, we show that these symmetry-dependent terms lead to characteristic spectral shifts. Our work provides a general framework for describing light-matter interactions in chiral quantum electrodynamics and identifying the associated symmetry-dependent effects on cavity-embedded atoms, molecules, and quantum materials.

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other); Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph); Optics (physics.optics)

arXiv:2608.19336 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2608.19336v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.19336 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

Supplementary_Material.pdf

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