arXiv:1805.04887 · Physical Review A
One- and three-photon dynamical Casimir effects using a nonstationary cyclic qutrit
H. Dessano, Alexandre V. Dodonov
Abstract
We consider a nonstationary circuit quantum electrodynamics setup in which a three-level artificial atom in the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}$ configuration interacts with a single-mode cavity field of natural frequency $\ensuremath{\omega}$. It is demonstrated that when some atomic energy level(s) undergoes a weak harmonic modulation, photons can be generated from vacuum via effective one- and three-photon transitions, while the atom remains approximately in the ground state. These phenomena occur in the dispersive regime when the modulation frequency is accurately tuned near $\ensuremath{\omega}$ and $3\ensuremath{\omega}$, respectively, and the generated field states exhibit strikingly different statistics from the squeezed vacuum state attained in the standard cavity dynamical Casimir effect.