arXiv:1902.09207 · Physical Review A
Electromagnetic-wave propagation through an array of superconducting qubits: Manifestations of nonequilibrium steady states of qubits
M. V. Fistul, M. A. Iontsev
Abstract
We report a theoretical study of the propagation of electromagnetic waves (EWs) through an array of superconducting qubits, i.e., coherent two-level systems, embedded in a low-dissipation transmission line. We focus on the near-resonant case as the frequency of EWs $\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\simeq}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{q}$, where ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{q}$ is the qubit frequency. In this limit we derive the effective dynamic nonlinear wave equation allowing one to obtain the frequency-dependent transmission coefficient of EWs, $D(\ensuremath{\omega})$. In the linear regime and a relatively wide frequency region we obtain a strong resonant suppression of $D(\ensuremath{\omega})$ in both cases of a single qubit and chains composed of a large number of densely arranged qubits. However, in narrow frequency regions a chain of qubits allows the resonant transmission of EWs with greatly enhanced $D(\ensuremath{\omega})$. In the nonlinear regime realized for a moderate power of applied microwave radiation, we predict and analyze various transitions between states characterized by high and low values of $D(\ensuremath{\omega})$. These transitions are manifestations of nonequilibrium steady states of an array of qubits achieved in this regime.