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arXiv:2502.05767 · The Journal of Chemical Physics

Mixed quantum–classical dynamics yields anharmonic Rabi oscillations

Ming‐Hsiu Hsieh, Roel Tempelaar

Published Jun 11, 2025• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We apply a mixed quantum-classical (MQC) approach to the quantum Rabi model, involving a classical optical field coupled self-consistently to a quantum two-level system. Under the rotating wave approximation, we analytically show that this approach yields persistent yet anharmonic Rabi oscillations, governed by an undamped and unforced Duffing equation. We consider the single-quantum limit, where we find that such anharmonic Rabi oscillations closely follow full-quantum results once zero-point energy is approximately enforced when initializing the optical field coordinate. Our findings provide guidance in the application of MQC dynamics to classes of problems involving small quantum numbers and far away from decoherence.

DOI
10.1063/5.0266594

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We apply a mixed quantum-classical (MQC) approach to the quantum Rabi model, involving a classical optical field coupled self-consistently to a quantum two-level system. Under the rotating wave approximation, we analytically show that this approach yields persistent yet anharmonic Rabi oscillations, governed by an undamped and unforced Duffing equation. We consider the single-quantum limit, where we find that such anharmonic Rabi oscillations closely follow full-quantum results once zero-point energy is approximately enforced when initializing the optical field coordinate. Our findings provide guidance in the application of MQC dynamics to classes of problems involving small quantum numbers and far away from decoherence.
One of the simplest models involving the atom-field interaction is the coupling of a single two-level atom with single-mode optical field. Under the rotating wave approximation, this problem is reduced to a form that can be solved exactly. But the approximation is only valid when the two levels are resonant or nearly resonant with the applied electromagnetic radiation. Here we present an analytical solution without the rotating wave approximation and applicable to general atom-field interaction far away from the resonance. We find that there exists remarkable influence of the initial phase of optical field on the Rabi oscillations and Rabi splitting, and this issue cannot be explored in the context of the rotating wave approximation. Due to the retention of the counter-rotating terms, higher-order harmonic appears during the Rabi splitting. The analytical solution suggests a way to regulate and control the quantum dynamics of a two-level atom and allows for exploring more essential features of the atom-field interaction.
We considered the semiclassical Rabi model, that is, a two-level system interacting with a single-mode, classical field. In resonance and for an arbitrary initial state of the system, we obtained a simple, approximate, and analytic solution that takes into account the counterrotating terms and that is accurate as long as the Rabi frequency is smaller than or equal to 1/2 (1/4) of the angular frequency of the field and 1 (10) Rabi oscillations are considered. In addition, the approximate solution has the same level of complexity as that obtained with the rotating-wave-approximation (RWA) and allows one to describe the evolution of the Bloch vector of the system in terms of a \textit{slow-precessional} and a \textit{fast-nutational} motion similar to that of a symmetric top with one point fixed. Finally, the approximate solution also leads to a simple criterion that allows one to determine the accuracy of the solution in the RWA.
We considered the semiclassical Rabi model: a two-level atom fixed at a position and interacting with a classical, monochromatic electromagnetic field. In resonance and for an arbitrary initial state of the system, we obtained an approximate, analytic solution that takes into account the counterrotating terms and that is accurate as long as the Rabi frequency is smaller than or equal to 1/21/21/2 (1/41/41/4) of the angular frequency of the field and 111 (101010) Rabi oscillations are considered. In addition, the approximate solution has the same level of complexity as that obtained with the rotating-wave-approximation (RWA) and the approximate solution also leads to a simple criterion that allows one to determine the accuracy of the solution in the RWA. We found that the approximate solution is composed of the the solution in the RWA plus terms that oscillate at the angular frequency of the field and at the Rabi frequency. Moreover, these corrections are proportional to the Rabi frequency divided by two times the angular frequency of the field.
We theoretically investigate quantum Rabi oscillations in a system consisting of a two-level atom (qubit) strongly coupled to a one-dimensional open waveguide. In contrast to conventional cavity quantum electrodynamics, the qubit interacts with a continuum of propagating modes, which gives rise to fundamentally different dynamical behavior. Within the rotating-wave approximation, we express the multimode Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian in terms of collective bosonic operators and show that the system possesses two integrals of motion, enabling an exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian in the single-excitation subspace. We show that for a strongly interacting qubit-photon system, the dynamics are captured by a reduced two-level model. In this framework, each level is defined as the product of the atomic excited state and a specific field mode, which takes the form of a multiphoton Fock-like state. In this picture, the Rabi oscillations represent a collective phenomenon corresponding to oscillations between multiphoton states differing by a single photon. We then extend our analysis to multiphoton processes in which the initial field is a coherent state with a continuous spectrum. In this case, the Rabi frequency is shown to be sensitive to the spectral profile of the function that generates the coherent state.
The dynamics of two coupled oscillators can become quite complex if anharmonic potential energy functions are employed. This type of system therefore represents a good model for an investigation of the performance of mixed quantum-classical methods. In this work, the motion of two coupled particles with a mass ratio of one to ten is studied with three different mixed quantum-classical methods in the presence of anharmonic potential terms for a comparison with exact quantum mechanical calculations. The mixed quantum-classical approaches include the multitrajectory Ehrenfest, the mixed quantum-classical Bohmian (MQCB), and the so-called coupled Schrödinger equations (CSE) formalisms. The analysis shows that while the description of a weakly anharmonic system by the Ehrenfest and MQCB schemes is accurate if proper sampling techniques are applied, both approximations break down rapidly if the anharmonic terms are increased. The performance of the simple CSE prescription, which corresponds to a reduction of the full two-dimensional wave function to two one-dimensional wave functions representing two quantum oscillators coupled via the potential energy in a classical fashion, decreases if the width of the initial wave packet is enlarged. The dependence of the CSE method on the diffuseness of the initial wave packet is therefore opposite to that of the MQCB method, which is more accurate for wide wave packets. Overall, the multitrajectory Ehrenfest ansatz is found to be most successful in reproducing the exact quantum results.