Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: High-harmonic generation (HHG) provides an ultrafast probe of quantum materials, yet conventional spectral observables do not generally furnish a common signature of band topology. Here we show that quantum-light-driven HHG opens an additional information channel through the photon statistics of the emitted harmonics. Using the Haldane Chern insulator and the time-reversal-invariant Kane-Mele topological insulator, we calculate helicity-resolved equal-time intensity correlations and identify a common enhancement of high-order harmonic correlations in the topological phases. For the Haldane model, a dichroic correlation constructed from opposite helicity channels reverses sign with the Chern number. These signatures originate from the distinct nonlinear response sampled by quantum fluctuations of the driving field and are absent from the corresponding mean harmonic spectra as a common classifier. Our results establish photon-correlation spectroscopy as a route to interrogate topological matter with quantum light and provide a bridge between strong-field solid-state physics and quantum optics.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Centres de Recerca de Catalunya, Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, European Commission, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Generalitat de Catalunya, National Research Foundation of Korea, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Iran Telecommunication Research Center, Institute for Basic Science, Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea, QuantERA, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, NextGenerationEU
Awards: G1171162939, G1188902550, G1418483613, G1458792852, G1526731822, NExt level Quantum information processing for Science and Technology, G1890223652, G1908469581, Programmable Atomic Large-scale Quantum Simulation 2 - SGA1, G2064873908, G2462415295, G2763573136, G2871827553, G2877376689, G2985547930, G3005324705, G3022749744, G3136449320, G318412399, G3203908756, G3427281961, G3514304032, G356394092, G3723121148, G383311257, G3953512425, G3976037732, G4239348134, G4286615259, G4359800586, G4368799831, G4391008399, G4571205363, G4700831490, G4727238542, G4817182241, G5099004511, G553886061, G5541392525, G575169067, G5800121100, QuantERA II ERA-NET Cofund in Quantum Technologies, G5922099756, G6166689270, G6294180727, G631184005, G6482940084, G6520718613, G6656126374, G6674601499, G6743926034, G6835105602, G7048927246, G7085991052, G7327758667, G7425137858, G7615865815, G7861249441, G8180681537, G8399508435, Optical Topologic Logic, G8665153912, G8959349008
OpenAlex ID: W7223085233