Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1904.03631 · Physical Review Letters

Controlling Quantum Transport via Dissipation Engineering

François Damanet, Eduardo Mascarenhas, David Pekker, Andrew J. Daley

Published Oct 31, 2019• 54 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Inspired by the microscopic control over dissipative processes in quantum optics and cold atoms, we develop an open-system framework to study dissipative control of transport in strongly interacting fermionic systems, relevant for both solid-state and cold-atom experiments. We show how subgap currents exhibiting multiple Andreev reflections-the stimulated transport of electrons in the presence of Cooper pairs-can be controlled via engineering of superconducting leads or superfluid atomic gases. Our approach incorporates dissipation within the channel, which is naturally occurring and can be engineered in cold gas experiments. This opens opportunities for engineering many phenomena with transport in strongly interacting systems. As examples, we consider particle loss and dephasing, and note different behavior for currents with different microscopic origin. We also show how to induce nonreciprocal electron and Cooper-pair currents.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.123.180402

Related papers

Reservoir engineering of Cooper-pair-assisted transport with cold atoms

François Damanet, Eduardo Mascarenhas, David Pekker +1 more

Abstract We show how Cooper-pair-assisted transport, which describes the stimulated transport of electrons in the presence of Cooper-pairs, can be engineered and controlled with cold atoms, in regimes that are difficult to access for condensed matter systems. Our model is a channel connecting two cold atomic gases, and the mechanism to generate such a transport relies on the coupling of the channel to a molecular BEC, with diatomic molecules of fermionic atoms. Our results are obtained using a Floquet–Redfield master equation that accounts for an exact treatment of the interaction between atoms in the channel. We explore, in particular, the impact of the coupling to the BEC and the interaction between atoms in the junction on its transport properties, revealing non-trivial dependence of the produced particle current. We also study the effects of finite temperatures of the reservoirs and the robustness of the current against additional dissipation acting on the junction. Our work is experimentally relevant and has potential applications to dissipation engineering of transport with cold atoms, studies of thermoelectric effects, quantum heat engines, or Floquet Majorana fermions.

arXiv:1908.02061•New Journal of Physics•Oct 18, 2019•16 citations

Saturation of Thermal and Spin Conductances in a Dissipative Superfluid Junction

Meng-Zi Huang, Philipp Fabritius, Jeffrey Mohan +3 more

Fermionic superfluid junctions typically exhibit suppressed thermal and spin transport due to the presence of a pairing gap but allow coherent particle transport. While dissipation generally weakens coherent transport, it can also induce excitations that open other transport channels. In this work, we experimentally study a one-dimensional superfluid junction of strongly interacting fermions with local particle loss and observe dissipation-induced thermal and spin transport that appear to saturate at strong dissipation. Notably, in this regime, the measured thermal and spin conductances are comparable to the universal quantized conductance of one-dimensional ideal Fermi gas. Qualitatively similar behavior is observed for two dissipation mechanisms, either spin-imbalanced or pairwise losses. Our findings provide new insights into transport in interacting open quantum systems and suggest possibilities of dissipative control of spin and thermoelectric transport.

arXiv:2412.08525•Physical Review Letters•Jun 6, 2025•5 citations

Connecting Dissipation and Phase Slips in a Josephson Junction between Fermionic Superfluids

A. Burchianti, Francesco Scazza, Andrea Amico +6 more

We study the emergence of dissipation in an atomic Josephson junction between weakly coupled superfluid Fermi gases. We find that vortex-induced phase slippage is the dominant microscopic source of dissipation across the Bose-Einstein condensate-Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer crossover. We explore different dynamical regimes by tuning the bias chemical potential between the two superfluid reservoirs. For small excitations, we observe dissipation and phase coherence to coexist, with a resistive current followed by well-defined Josephson oscillations. We link the junction transport properties to the phase-slippage mechanism, finding that vortex nucleation is primarily responsible for the observed trends of conductance and critical current. For large excitations, we observe the irreversible loss of coherence between the two superfluids, and transport cannot be described only within an uncorrelated phase-slip picture. Our findings open new directions for investigating the interplay between dissipative and superfluid transport in strongly correlated Fermi systems, and general concepts in out-of-equilibrium quantum systems.

arXiv:1707.02784•Physical Review Letters•Jan 12, 2018•90 citations

Control of Open Quantum Systems

Juha Salmilehto

Accurate control of a quantum system is complicated to achieve partly due to the system being coupled to its surrounding environment. The coupling induces dissipation and decoherence not only destroying the coherent quantum state but making the application of control unpredictable. When the control results from manipulation of external fields, it is usually referred to as driving and its joint effect with decoherence constitutes an active field of study in reduced-density-operator theory. Recently, this field has been pushed forward by its necessity in simulating Cooper pair pumping where the geometric nature of quantum evolution allows for controlled transport of charge carriers in superconducting circuits. Such circuits themselves are under constant investigation as they grant access to fundamental quantum phenomena and facilitate promising applications such as those in quantum information processing.\nIn this dissertation, driven quantum systems under decoherence are investigated. Extensions and improvements to a recent master equation for nearly adiabatic driving are presented and analyzed. The emergent properties in quantum evolution are studied both analytically and numerically. Related to the findings, a general conservation law of operator current is derived and used to explain observed nonconservation in previous theoretical studies. The derived theory is applied to Cooper-pair pumping and shown to lead to important properties such as superadiabatic ground-state pumping. A recent pumping experiment is simulated and the breakdown point for ideal pumping is found with feasible physical parameters. A study of charge transport in the presence of flux noise is presented leading to detectable dissipative currents and the typical description of the device used for pumping is extended to include a nonvanishing loop inductance.\nA novel approach to implement control of quantum systems is proposed based on constructing a tunable coupling to an artificial environment using either a coplanar waveguide cavity or coupled quantum LC resonators. Tunability allowing for both efficient initialization and protected evolution is theoretically demonstrated. Finally, a general framework for quantum driving is constructed without the typical assumption of a classical driving force leading to peculiar results.\nThis dissertation presents original research on both modeling the control of open quantum systems as well as the realization of such control. The work simulates physical phenomena in superconducting circuits and makes predictions for future experiments. In addition, it introduces novel theoretical tools and approaches that advance the state of the art.

•Jan 1, 2014•0 citations

Quantum Transport of Ultracold Fermions in Optical Potentials

Mekena Metcalf

A new millennia ushered in novel experimental capabilities to investigate engineered quantum systems. Gases consisting of charge neutral atoms are cooled to the ground state and by exploiting the dipole interaction can be trapped by laser light. In ultracold atomic systems the tunneling and interactions are controllable, and the system is absent of disorder. Disorder and interactions in solid-state systems inhibits a complete understanding of transport phenomena. Theoretical investigations into non-equilibrium and equilibrium dynamics of fermions in discretized potentials and in continuum are presented. The affect of controllable, external system parameters is evaluated and exploited to reveal new properties of fermion dynamics. My thesis will begin with an overview of the physics associated with many-body fermion and the models used to obtain results, followed by my thesis research on how matter-waves can be manipulated by lattice geometry and tunneling strengths. Next, I present how dissipation affects current in a continuous ring, demonstrating rate-dependent hysteresis as the particles are driven by an artificial gauge field. After presenting the continuous ring, I will then focus on persistent current and corresponding quantum current fluctuations in a discretized ring. Lissajous curves are found in the system whose area strongly depends on the presence and absence of interactions. Lastly, I will discuss dynamical detection methods for one-dimensional topological insulators using ultracold fermions. All of the results are supported with discussion on how they can be realized using current experimental technology.

•Jan 1, 2018•0 citations

Controlled transport between Fermi superfluids through a quantum point contact

Juan Yao, Boyang Liu, Mingyuan Sun +1 more

Recent advances in experimental techniques allow one to create a quantum point contact between two Fermi superfluids in cold atomic gases with a tunable transmission coefficient. In this Rapid Communication we propose that three distinct behaviors of charge transports between two Fermi superfluids can be realized in this single setup, which are the multiple Andreev reflection, the self-trapping, and the Josephson oscillation. We investigate the dynamics of atom number difference between two reservoirs for different initial conditions and different transmission coefficients, and present a coherent picture of how the crossover between different regimes takes place. Our results can now be directly verified in the current experimental system.

arXiv:1712.07125•Physical Review A•Oct 8, 2018•16 citations
Inspired by the microscopic control over dissipative processes in quantum optics and cold atoms, we develop an open-system framework to study dissipative control of transport in strongly interacting fermionic systems, relevant for both solid-state and cold-atom experiments. We show how subgap currents exhibiting multiple Andreev reflections-the stimulated transport of electrons in the presence of Cooper pairs-can be controlled via engineering of superconducting leads or superfluid atomic gases. Our approach incorporates dissipation within the channel, which is naturally occurring and can be engineered in cold gas experiments. This opens opportunities for engineering many phenomena with transport in strongly interacting systems. As examples, we consider particle loss and dephasing, and note different behavior for currents with different microscopic origin. We also show how to induce nonreciprocal electron and Cooper-pair currents.
Abstract We show how Cooper-pair-assisted transport, which describes the stimulated transport of electrons in the presence of Cooper-pairs, can be engineered and controlled with cold atoms, in regimes that are difficult to access for condensed matter systems. Our model is a channel connecting two cold atomic gases, and the mechanism to generate such a transport relies on the coupling of the channel to a molecular BEC, with diatomic molecules of fermionic atoms. Our results are obtained using a Floquet–Redfield master equation that accounts for an exact treatment of the interaction between atoms in the channel. We explore, in particular, the impact of the coupling to the BEC and the interaction between atoms in the junction on its transport properties, revealing non-trivial dependence of the produced particle current. We also study the effects of finite temperatures of the reservoirs and the robustness of the current against additional dissipation acting on the junction. Our work is experimentally relevant and has potential applications to dissipation engineering of transport with cold atoms, studies of thermoelectric effects, quantum heat engines, or Floquet Majorana fermions.
Fermionic superfluid junctions typically exhibit suppressed thermal and spin transport due to the presence of a pairing gap but allow coherent particle transport. While dissipation generally weakens coherent transport, it can also induce excitations that open other transport channels. In this work, we experimentally study a one-dimensional superfluid junction of strongly interacting fermions with local particle loss and observe dissipation-induced thermal and spin transport that appear to saturate at strong dissipation. Notably, in this regime, the measured thermal and spin conductances are comparable to the universal quantized conductance of one-dimensional ideal Fermi gas. Qualitatively similar behavior is observed for two dissipation mechanisms, either spin-imbalanced or pairwise losses. Our findings provide new insights into transport in interacting open quantum systems and suggest possibilities of dissipative control of spin and thermoelectric transport.
We study the emergence of dissipation in an atomic Josephson junction between weakly coupled superfluid Fermi gases. We find that vortex-induced phase slippage is the dominant microscopic source of dissipation across the Bose-Einstein condensate-Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer crossover. We explore different dynamical regimes by tuning the bias chemical potential between the two superfluid reservoirs. For small excitations, we observe dissipation and phase coherence to coexist, with a resistive current followed by well-defined Josephson oscillations. We link the junction transport properties to the phase-slippage mechanism, finding that vortex nucleation is primarily responsible for the observed trends of conductance and critical current. For large excitations, we observe the irreversible loss of coherence between the two superfluids, and transport cannot be described only within an uncorrelated phase-slip picture. Our findings open new directions for investigating the interplay between dissipative and superfluid transport in strongly correlated Fermi systems, and general concepts in out-of-equilibrium quantum systems.
Accurate control of a quantum system is complicated to achieve partly due to the system being coupled to its surrounding environment. The coupling induces dissipation and decoherence not only destroying the coherent quantum state but making the application of control unpredictable. When the control results from manipulation of external fields, it is usually referred to as driving and its joint effect with decoherence constitutes an active field of study in reduced-density-operator theory. Recently, this field has been pushed forward by its necessity in simulating Cooper pair pumping where the geometric nature of quantum evolution allows for controlled transport of charge carriers in superconducting circuits. Such circuits themselves are under constant investigation as they grant access to fundamental quantum phenomena and facilitate promising applications such as those in quantum information processing.\nIn this dissertation, driven quantum systems under decoherence are investigated. Extensions and improvements to a recent master equation for nearly adiabatic driving are presented and analyzed. The emergent properties in quantum evolution are studied both analytically and numerically. Related to the findings, a general conservation law of operator current is derived and used to explain observed nonconservation in previous theoretical studies. The derived theory is applied to Cooper-pair pumping and shown to lead to important properties such as superadiabatic ground-state pumping. A recent pumping experiment is simulated and the breakdown point for ideal pumping is found with feasible physical parameters. A study of charge transport in the presence of flux noise is presented leading to detectable dissipative currents and the typical description of the device used for pumping is extended to include a nonvanishing loop inductance.\nA novel approach to implement control of quantum systems is proposed based on constructing a tunable coupling to an artificial environment using either a coplanar waveguide cavity or coupled quantum LC resonators. Tunability allowing for both efficient initialization and protected evolution is theoretically demonstrated. Finally, a general framework for quantum driving is constructed without the typical assumption of a classical driving force leading to peculiar results.\nThis dissertation presents original research on both modeling the control of open quantum systems as well as the realization of such control. The work simulates physical phenomena in superconducting circuits and makes predictions for future experiments. In addition, it introduces novel theoretical tools and approaches that advance the state of the art.
A new millennia ushered in novel experimental capabilities to investigate engineered quantum systems. Gases consisting of charge neutral atoms are cooled to the ground state and by exploiting the dipole interaction can be trapped by laser light. In ultracold atomic systems the tunneling and interactions are controllable, and the system is absent of disorder. Disorder and interactions in solid-state systems inhibits a complete understanding of transport phenomena. Theoretical investigations into non-equilibrium and equilibrium dynamics of fermions in discretized potentials and in continuum are presented. The affect of controllable, external system parameters is evaluated and exploited to reveal new properties of fermion dynamics. My thesis will begin with an overview of the physics associated with many-body fermion and the models used to obtain results, followed by my thesis research on how matter-waves can be manipulated by lattice geometry and tunneling strengths. Next, I present how dissipation affects current in a continuous ring, demonstrating rate-dependent hysteresis as the particles are driven by an artificial gauge field. After presenting the continuous ring, I will then focus on persistent current and corresponding quantum current fluctuations in a discretized ring. Lissajous curves are found in the system whose area strongly depends on the presence and absence of interactions. Lastly, I will discuss dynamical detection methods for one-dimensional topological insulators using ultracold fermions. All of the results are supported with discussion on how they can be realized using current experimental technology.
Recent advances in experimental techniques allow one to create a quantum point contact between two Fermi superfluids in cold atomic gases with a tunable transmission coefficient. In this Rapid Communication we propose that three distinct behaviors of charge transports between two Fermi superfluids can be realized in this single setup, which are the multiple Andreev reflection, the self-trapping, and the Josephson oscillation. We investigate the dynamics of atom number difference between two reservoirs for different initial conditions and different transmission coefficients, and present a coherent picture of how the crossover between different regimes takes place. Our results can now be directly verified in the current experimental system.