An atomic symmetry-controlled thermal switch

Abstract

We propose a simple diatomic system trapped inside an optical cavity to control the energy flow between two thermal baths. Through the action of the baths the system is driven to a non-equilibrium steady state. Using the Large Deviation theory we show that the number of photons flowing between the two baths is dramatically different depending on the symmetry of the atomic states. Here we present a deterministic scheme to prepare symmetric and antisymmetric atomic states with the use of external driving fields, thus implementing an atomic control switch for the energy flow.