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arXiv:2407.21390 · Physical Review A

Impact of quantum noise on phase transitions in an atom-cavity system with limit cycles

Richelle Jade L. Tuquero, Jayson G. Cosme

Published Dec 13, 2024• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum fluctuations are inherent in open quantum systems and they affect not only the statistical properties of the initial state but also the time evolution of the system. Using a generic minimal model, we show that quantum noise smooths the transition between a stationary and a dynamical phase corresponding to a limit cycle (LC) in the semiclassical mean-field approximation of a generic open quantum system. Employing truncated Wigner approximation, we show that the inherent quantum noise pushes the system to exhibit signatures of LCs for interaction strengths lower than the critical value predicted by the standard mean-field theory, suggesting a noise-induced emergence of temporal ordering. Our work demonstrates that the apparent crossover-like behavior between stationary phases brought by finite-size effects from quantum fluctuations also apply to transitions involving dynamical phases. To demonstrate this on a specific physical system, we consider a transversely pumped atom-cavity setup, wherein LCs have been observed and identified as continuous time crystals. We compare the oscillation frequencies of the LCs in the one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional regimes, and find that the frequencies have larger shot-to-shot fluctuations in 1D. This has an important consequence in the effectiveness of entrainment of LCs for a periodically driven pump intensity or light-matter coupling strength.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.110.063314

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Quantum fluctuations are inherent in open quantum systems and they affect not only the statistical properties of the initial state but also the time evolution of the system. Using a generic minimal model, we show that quantum noise smooths the transition between a stationary and a dynamical phase corresponding to a limit cycle (LC) in the semiclassical mean-field approximation of a generic open quantum system. Employing truncated Wigner approximation, we show that the inherent quantum noise pushes the system to exhibit signatures of LCs for interaction strengths lower than the critical value predicted by the standard mean-field theory, suggesting a noise-induced emergence of temporal ordering. Our work demonstrates that the apparent crossover-like behavior between stationary phases brought by finite-size effects from quantum fluctuations also apply to transitions involving dynamical phases. To demonstrate this on a specific physical system, we consider a transversely pumped atom-cavity setup, wherein LCs have been observed and identified as continuous time crystals. We compare the oscillation frequencies of the LCs in the one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional regimes, and find that the frequencies have larger shot-to-shot fluctuations in 1D. This has an important consequence in the effectiveness of entrainment of LCs for a periodically driven pump intensity or light-matter coupling strength.
Driven-dissipative quantum many-body systems have been the subject of many studies in recent years. They possess unique, novel classes of dissipation-stabilized quantum many-body phases including the limit cycle. For a long time it has been speculated if such a behavior, a recurring phenomenon in non-linear classical and quantum many-body systems, can be classified as a time crystal. However, the robustness of these periodic dynamics, against quantum fluctuations is an open question. In this work we seek the answer to this question in a canonical yet important system, i.e., a multi-mode cavity with self and cross-Kerr non-linearity, including the fluctuation effects via higher order correlations. Employing the Keldysh path integral, we investigate the Green's function and correlation of the cavity modes in different regions. Furthermore, we extend our analysis beyond the mean-field by explicitly including the effect of two-body correlations via the 2nd-cumulant expansion. Our results shed light on the emergence of dissipative phase transitions in open quantum systems and clearly indicate the robustness of limit-cycle oscillations in the presence of the quantum fluctuations.
We propose an experimental realization of a time crystal using an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in a high finesse optical cavity pumped with laser light detuned to the blue side of the relevant atomic resonance. By mapping out the dynamical phase diagram, we identify regions in parameter space showing stable limit cycle dynamics. Since the model describing the system is time independent, the emergence of a limit cycle phase indicates the breaking of continuous time translation symmetry. Employing a semiclassical analysis to demonstrate the robustness of the limit cycles against perturbations and quantum fluctuations, we establish the emergence of a time crystal.
It is universally accepted that noise may bring order to complex nonequilibrium systems. Most strikingly, entirely new states not seen in the noiseless system can be induced purely by including multiplicative noise-an effect known as pure noise-induced transitions. It was first observed in superfluids in the 1980s. Recent results in complex nonequilibrium systems have also shown how new collective states emerge from such pure noise-induced transitions, such as the foraging behavior of insect colonies, and schooling in fish. Here we report such effects of noise in a quantum-mechanical system without a classical limit. We use a minimal model of a nonlinearly damped oscillator in a fluctuating environment that is analytically tractable, and whose microscopic physics can be understood. When multiplicative environmental noise is included, the system is seen to transition to a limit-cycle state. The noise-induced quantum limit cycle also exhibits other genuinely nonclassical traits, such as Wigner negativity and number-parity sensitive circulation in phase space. Such quantum limit cycles are also conservative. These properties are in stark contrast to those of a widely used limit cycle in the literature, which is dissipative and loses all Wigner negativity. Our results establish the existence of a pure noise-induced transition that is nonclassical and unique to open quantum systems. They illustrate a fundamental difference between quantum and classical noise.
Atomic self-ordering to a crystalline phase in optical resonators is a consequence of the intriguing nonlinear dynamics of strongly coupled atom motion and photons. Generally the resulting phase diagrams and atomic states can be largely understood on a mean-field level. However, close to the phase transition point, quantum fluctuations and atom-field entanglement play a key role and initiate the symmetry breaking. Here we propose a modified ring cavity geometry, in which the asymmetry imposed by a tilted pump beam reveals clear signatures of quantum dynamics even in a larger regime around the phase transition point. Quantum fluctuations become visible both in the dynamic and steady-state properties. Most strikingly we can identify a regime where a mean-field approximation predicts a runaway instability, while in the full quantum model the quantum fluctuations of the light field modes stabilize uniform atomic motion. The proposed geometry thus allows to unveil the "quantumness" of atomic self-ordering via experimentally directly accessible quantities.
We explore the quantum dynamics of a mechanical resonator whose position is coupled to the frequency of an optical (or microwave) cavity mode. When the cavity is driven at a frequency above resonance the mechanical resonator can gain energy and for sufficiently strong coupling this results in limit-cycle oscillations. Using a truncated Wigner function approach, which captures the zero-point fluctuations in the system, we develop an approximate analytic treatment of the resonator dynamics in the limit-cycle regime. We find that the limit-cycle oscillations produced by the cavity are associated with rather low levels of energy fluctuations in the resonator. Compared to a resonator at the same temperature which is driven by a pure harmonic drive to a given average energy, the cavity-driven oscillations can have much lower energy fluctuations. Furthermore, at sufficiently low temperatures, the cavity can drive the resonator into a non-classical state which is number-squeezed.
In this article, we theoretically investigate the first- and second-order quantum dissipative phase transitions of a three-mode cavity with a Hubbard interaction. In both types, there is a mean-field (MF) limit cycle phase where the local U(1) symmetry and the time-translational symmetry of the Liouvillian superoperator are spontaneously broken. In MF, this spontaneous symmetry breaking manifests itself through the appearance of an unconditionally and fully squeezed state at the cavity output, connected to the well-known Goldstone mode. By employing the Wigner function formalism, hence, properly including the quantum noise, we show that away from the thermodynamic limit and within the quantum regime, fluctuations notably limit the coherence time of the Goldstone mode due to the phase diffusion. Our theoretical predictions suggest that interacting multimode photonic systems are rich, versatile test beds for investigating the crossovers between the mean-field picture and quantum phase transitions, a problem that can be investigated in various platforms including superconducting circuits, semiconductor microcavities, atomic Rydberg polaritons, and cuprite excitons.