Wave Propagation and Light-Matter Interactions in Optical Nanofibers and Discrete Media

Building on more than 50 years of sustained progress, artificial systems of atoms and photons are now routinely controllable down to the nanoscale, which paves the way for simulators and processors powered by the light-matter interaction. In particular the rapid experimental progress made in platforms of nanoscale photonics and neutral atoms demands fresh computational studies along with more powerful theoretical tools in order to simulate these increasingly complex (quantum) optical systems. In this thesis I contribute to (1) the understanding of current state-of-the-art in experimental optical nanofiber systems on one hand, and to (2) the general theory of emission into photonic lattices together with (3) quantum metrology in light-matter platforms. In the former I (1) systematically investigate light propagation in coupled optical nanofibers fibers and dispersion potential mediated through these nanofibers for experimentally relevant parameters, shedding light on effects that may be observed in near-future setups. In the latter I (2) study hyperbolic lattices exhibiting strongly anisotropic emission, with results that may have applications in transporting and storing photons in nanoscale platforms. Additionally, in a collaborative work (3) a proposal is made for a metrological protocol consisting of quenching through a quantum phase transition to obtain quantum-limited precision in system measurements.Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate Universit