Cooperative non-reciprocal emission and quantum sensing of symmetry breaking

Non-reciprocal propagation of energy and information is fundamental to a wide range of quantum technology applications. In this work, we explore the quantum many-body dynamics of a qubit ensemble coupled to a shared bath that mediates coherent and dissipative inter-qubit interactions with both symmetric and anti-symmetric components. We find that the interplay between anti-symmetric (symmetric) coherent and symmetric (anti-symmetric) dissipative interactions results in non-reciprocal couplings, which, in turn, generate a spatially asymmetric emission pattern. We demonstrate that this pattern arises from non-reciprocal interactions coupling different quantum many-body states within a specific excitation manifold. Focusing on solid-state baths, we show that their lack of time-reversal and inversion symmetry is a key ingredient for generating non-reciprocal dynamics in the qubit ensemble. With the plethora of quantum materials that exhibit this symmetry breaking at equilibrium, our approach paves the way for realizing cooperative non-reciprocal transport in qubit ensembles without requiring time-modulated external drives or complex engineering. Using an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers coupled to a generic non-centrosymmetric ferromagnetic bath as a concrete example, we demonstrate that our predictions can be tested in near-future experiments. As the spatial asymmetry in the relaxation dynamics of the qubit ensemble is a direct probe of symmetry breaking in the solid-state bath, our work also opens the door to developing model-agnostic quantum sensing schemes capable of detecting bath properties invisible to current state-of-the-art protocols, which operate solid-state defects as single-qubit sensors.