Electric field in a two-dimensional time-multiplexed photonic quantum walk

It is of fundamental importance to control the evolution of a photonic quantum walk for conducting various quantum simulations. However, due to the lack of charge, photons are indifferent to applied electric fields, which limits our ability to control photonic quantum walks. One approach to mimic the effect of electric fields is through the use of synthetic gauge fields. In this presentation, we show the creation of a uniform effective electric field using a linearly time-varying gauge field in a time-multiplexed two-dimensional quantum walk. In this platform, varied lengths of optical fibers create time delays and the gauge fields are implemented through phase modulations. We demonstrate that the generated electric field leads to Bloch oscillations that enable revival of the quantum walker state. By measuring the probability of the revival, we show good agreement between the observed values and the theoretically predicted results. We also demonstrate the possibility of waveguiding quantum walkers by applying an inhomogeneous electric field.