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arXiv:1809.10138 · Physical Review Letters

Quantum Critical Regime in a Quadratically Driven Nonlinear Photonic Lattice

R. Rota, Fabrizio Minganti, Cristiano Ciuti, Vincenzo Savona

Published Mar 21, 2019• 125 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study an array of coupled optical cavities in the presence of two-photon driving and dissipation. The system displays a critical behavior similar to that of a quantum Ising model at finite temperature. Using the corner-space renormalization method, we compute the steady-state properties of finite lattices of varying size, both in one and two dimensions. From a finite-size scaling of the average of the photon number parity, we highlight the emergence of a critical point in regimes of small dissipations, belonging to the quantum Ising universality class. For increasing photon loss rates, a departure from this universal behavior signals the onset of a quantum critical regime, where classical fluctuations induced by losses compete with long-range quantum correlations.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.122.110405

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•Nov 24, 2017•0 citations
We study an array of coupled optical cavities in the presence of two-photon driving and dissipation. The system displays a critical behavior similar to that of a quantum Ising model at finite temperature. Using the corner-space renormalization method, we compute the steady-state properties of finite lattices of varying size, both in one and two dimensions. From a finite-size scaling of the average of the photon number parity, we highlight the emergence of a critical point in regimes of small dissipations, belonging to the quantum Ising universality class. For increasing photon loss rates, a departure from this universal behavior signals the onset of a quantum critical regime, where classical fluctuations induced by losses compete with long-range quantum correlations.
The emergence of equilibrium universality from intrinsically nonequilibrium dynamics is a fundamental open problem. Bose-Hubbard lattices realized in photonic and circuit-QED platforms provide a versatile setting to engineer nonlinear interactions, dissipation, and multiphoton processes. Here we investigate a Bose-Hubbard lattice subject to three-photon parametric driving, whose nonequilibrium steady state spontaneously breaks a Z3\mathbb Z_3Z3​ symmetry and realizes the criticality of the three-state Potts model, a three-state generalization of the Ising model. Using a variational phase-space approach with systematically controllable accuracy based on a Variational Multi-Gaussian ansatz, we perform finite-size scaling analyses in one and two spatial dimensions. We find that, in two-dimensional lattices with single-photon losses, the nonequilibrium steady-state transition belongs to the universality class of the 2D classical three-state Potts model. In contrast, in one-dimensional lattices with three-photon losses, the transition is governed by the one-dimensional quantum three-state Potts universality class. These results establish driven-dissipative bosonic lattices as a platform for emergent Potts criticality and identify multiphoton dissipation as a mechanism that promotes nonequilibrium critical behavior from classical to quantum universality classes.
Driven-dissipative Kerr lattices with two-photon driving are experimentally relevant systems known to exhibit a symmetry-breaking phase transition, which belongs to the universality class of the thermal Ising model for the parameter regime studied here. In this work, we perform finite-size scaling of this system as it is quenched to the transition, and the dynamical critical exponent is found to be compatible with $z\ensuremath{\approx}2.18$, corresponding with metropolis dynamics in classical simulations. Furthermore, we show that the Liouvillian gap scales with the same exponent, similar to scaling of the Hamiltonian gap at quantum phase transitions in closed systems.
We explore theoretically the nonequilibrium photonic phases of an array of coupled cavities in presence of incoherent driving and dissipation. In particular, we consider a Hubbard model system where each site is a Kerr nonlinear resonator coupled to a two-level emitter, which is pumped incoherently. Within a Gutzwiller mean-field approach, we determine the steady-state phase diagram of such a system. We find that, at a critical value of the intercavity photon hopping rate, a second-order nonequilibrium phase transition associated with the spontaneous breaking of the U(1)\text{U}(1)U(1) symmetry occurs. The transition from an incompressible Mott-like photon fluid to a coherent delocalized phase is driven by commensurability effects and not by the competition between photon hopping and optical nonlinearity. The essence of the mean-field predictions is corroborated by finite-size simulations obtained with matrix product operators and corner-space renormalization methods.
We study the nonequilibrium steady state (NESS) of a driven dissipative one-dimensional system near a critical point, and explore how the quantum correlations compare to the known critical behavior in the ground state. The model we study corresponds to a cavity array driven parametrically at a two photon resonance, equivalent in a rotating frame to a transverse field anisotropic XYXYXY model [C.-E. Bardyn and A. Imamo\ifmmode \breve{g}\else \u{g}\fi{}lu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 253606 (2012)]. Depending on the sign of transverse field, the steady state of the open system can be either related to the ground state or to the maximum energy state. In both cases, many properties of the entanglement are similar to the ground state, although no critical behavior occurs. As one varies from the Ising limit to the isotropic XYXYXY limit, entanglement range grows. The isotropic limit of the NESS is, however, singular, with simultaneously diverging range and vanishing magnitude of entanglement. This singular limiting behavior is quite distinct from the ground state behavior; it can, however, be understood analytically within spin-wave theory.
In recent years, the control of photon-photon interactions in optical nonlinear media has led to the realization of quantum fluids of light. One of the current challenges is to increase the strength of these interactions and enter the so-called strongly correlated regime. To achieve this goal, arrays of nonlinear cavities are a very promising candidate. In this thesis, theoretical results on arrays of nonlinear cavities described by a driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard model are presented. In particular, a general method to compute the mean-field phase diagram of this model is described. Due to the finite life time of photons, the system is intrinsically dissipative: cavity losses must be compensated by an external driving field. This nonequilibrium nature gives rise to interesting features, such as a transition between monostable and bistable phases induced by tunneling. In the limit of weak dissipation and weak driving, analytical results describing generalized Mott insulating phases are derived. These states survive up to a critical tunneling strength, above which a crossover to a classical coherent state takes place. Finally, the issue of how to go beyond the mean-field approximation is addressed by performing exact numerical simulations. Large arrays of cavities were simulated by implementing a new method specifically tailored for driven-dissipative systems.
This thesis is about the theory of open quantum many-body physics with a particular focus on driven-dissipative photonic and spin lattices. After a review of the main physical platforms and theoretical concepts, we describe our original results. In Chapter 2, we present a theory of the single-mode Kerr model with a time-dependent pump. This model describes a single-mode optical cavity with a third-order optical nonlinearity. In the regime of parameters where the semiclassical analysis shows bistability, we find that a dynamic hysteresis loop appears in the exact solution. The hysteresis area as a function of the sweep time shows a double power-law decay where the second exponent is independent of the system parameters. We show how these effects are related to the emergence of a dissipative phase transition. We also describe concisely the experimental results which have recently confirmed such theoretical predictions. In Chapter 3, we present the corner-space renormalization method. In order to obtain the steady-state density matrix of the lattice, we solve the Lindblad master equation in a subspace of the Hilbert space (the "corner"). The states spanning the corner space are selected iteratively using eigenvectors of the density matrix of smaller lattice systems, merging in real space two lattices at each iteration and selecting M pairs of states by maximizing their joint probability. The accuracy of the results is then improved by increasing the dimension M of the corner space until convergence is reached. The method has been benchmarked on a two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with coherent driving. The strength and limitations of the method are critically discussed.In Chapter 4, we investigate a dissipative phase transition in the two-dimensional anisotropic Heisenberg XYZ model. Using the corner-space renormalization method we present a finite-size analysis of steady-state observables. In particular, we show the critical behaviour of the magnetic susceptibility, the entropy growth and the entanglement witnesses, providing a first evaluation of the critical exponents characterizing the transition. A study of the dynamics of finite-size systems is also consistent with a critical slowing down. For comparison, we present the corresponding analysis for one-dimensional arrays, showing the absence of criticality due to the reduced dimension.In Chapter 5, we explore the non-equilibrium photonic phases of a dissipative Bose-Hubbard model with incoherent pumping of coupled two-level systems. Within a Gutzwiller mean-field approach, we determine the steady-state phase diagram of the system. We predict a second-order phase transition between an incompressible Mott-like phase and a coherent delocalized phase.