Power-law-exponential interaction induced quantum spiral phases

We theoretically predict a kind of power-law-exponential (PLE) dipole-dipole interaction between quantum emitters in a 1D waveguide QED system. This unconventional long-range interaction is the combination of power-law growth and exponential decay couplings. Applying the PLE interaction to a spin model, we uncover the rich many-body phases. Most remarkably, we find that the PLE interaction can induce the ordered and critical spiral phases. These spiral phases emerge from the strong frustration generated by the power-law factor of the PLE interaction; hence they are absent for other types of long-range interaction, e.g., pure exponential and power-law decay interactions. Our work is also applicable for the higher-dimensional systems. It fundamentally broadens the realm of many-body physics and has significant applications in quantum simulation of strongly correlated matter.