Abstract

We analyze the dynamics of one and two two-level atoms interacting with the electromagnetic field in the vicinity of an optical nanofiber without making either the Born or the Markov approximations. We model the dielectric response of the nanofiber with a constant dielectric function and the Drude-Lorentz model, observing deviations from the standard super- and subradiant decays. We discuss the validity of approximating the speed of atom-atom communication to the group velocity of the guided field in the presence of nontrivial environment correlations. Our work presents a deeper understanding of the validity of commonly used approximations in recent waveguide QED platforms.