Interplay of coupling and superradiant emission in the optical response of a double quantum dot

We study theoretically the optical response of a double quantum dot structure to an ultrafast optical excitation. We show that the interplay of a specific type of coupling between the dots and their collective interaction with the radiative environment leads to very characteristic features in the time-resolved luminescence as well as in the absorption spectrum of the system. For a sufficiently strong coupling, these effects survive even if the transition energy mismatch between the two dots exceeds by far the emission linewidth.