Realization of a Periodically Driven Open Three-Level Dicke Model

Phys Rev Lett. 2021 Dec 17;127(25):253601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.253601.

Abstract

A periodically driven open three-level Dicke model is realized by resonantly shaking the pump field in an atom-cavity system. As an unambiguous signature, we demonstrate the emergence of a dynamical phase, in which the atoms periodically localize between the antinodes of the pump lattice, associated with an oscillating net momentum along the pump axis. We observe this dynamical phase through the periodic switching of the relative phase between the pump and cavity fields at a small fraction of the driving frequency, suggesting that it exhibits a time crystalline character.