Strong Coupling of Two Individually Controlled Atoms via a Nanophotonic Cavity

We demonstrate photon-mediated interactions between two individually trapped atoms coupled to a nanophotonic cavity. Specifically, we observe collective enhancement when the atoms are resonant with the cavity and level repulsion when the cavity is coupled to the atoms in the dispersive regime. Our approach makes use of individual control over the internal states of the atoms and their position with respect to the cavity mode, as well as the light shifts to tune atomic transitions individually, allowing us to directly observe the anticrossing of the bright and dark two-atom states. These observations open the door for realizing quantum networks and studying quantum many-body physics based on atom arrays coupled to nanophotonic devices.