Effects of recoil in subwavelength atomic arrays of trapped atoms

The optical response of a subwavelength array of atoms is characterized by collective excitations with broader and narrower linewidths compared to that of a single atom. These excitations can be understood as arising from a hybrid atom-photon state, a polariton, and are well understood for the case of pinned atoms. When atoms are allowed to move, as in recent experiments with optical lattices, a polariton induces mechanical forces on nearby atoms, creating a local distortion of the lattice. In turn, this distortion acts back on the polariton, modifying its radiative properties. In this talk, I will describe these modifications to the optical response and their impact on various properties of atomic arrays. In particular, I will discuss the transport of a subradiant excitation across 1D and 2D arrays of atoms, as well as the transmission and reflection of radiation from an atomically thin mirror. Finally, I will show how coupling to atomic motional excitations can be harnessed to prepare otherwise inaccessible subradiant states of the system. These results advance the understanding of optomechanical effects in atomic arrays and are relevant to recent experiments on cold atoms in subwavelength lattices.