The topological properties of open quantum lattice systems have attracted much attention, due to their fundamental significance and potential applications. However, experimental demonstrations with large-scale lattice models remain challenging. On top of that, formulations of topology in terms of quantum trajectories require monitoring along with the detection of quantum jumps. This is particularly the case for the dark state-induced topology that relies on averaging quantum trajectories at their jump times. Here, we propose two significant simplifications to ease the experimental burden to demonstrate dark-state induced topological phase transitions: First, we emulate the topology in the phase space of small systems, where the effective size of the system is reflected by the accessible parameter range. Second, we develop a method how to, by augmenting the system with an auxiliary system, access the jump-time averaged state through standard wall-time averaging, which effectively substitutes the monitoring along with the counting of quantum jumps. While these simplifications are applicable to general lattice systems, we demonstrate them with a one-dimensional Su-Schrieeffer-Heeger model. In this case, the lattice system is emulated by a four-level system, while the jump-time averaged state up to the second jump is accessed through a three-level auxiliary system.
The topological properties of open quantum lattice systems have attracted much attention, due to their fundamental significance and potential applications. However, experimental demonstrations with large-scale lattice models remain challenging. On top of that, formulations of topology in terms of quantum trajectories require monitoring along with the detection of quantum jumps. This is particularly the case for the dark state-induced topology that relies on averaging quantum trajectories at their jump times. Here, we propose two significant simplifications to ease the experimental burden to demonstrate dark-state induced topological phase transitions: First, we emulate the topology in the phase space of small systems, where the effective size of the system is reflected by the accessible parameter range. Second, we develop a method how to, by augmenting the system with an auxiliary system, access the jump-time averaged state through standard wall-time averaging, which effectively substitutes the monitoring along with the counting of quantum jumps. While these simplifications are applicable to general lattice systems, we demonstrate them with a one-dimensional Su-Schrieeffer-Heeger model. In this case, the lattice system is emulated by a four-level system, while the jump-time averaged state up to the second jump is accessed through a three-level auxiliary system.
We demonstrate that genuinely non-Hermitian topological phases and corresponding topological phase transitions can be naturally realized in monitored quantum circuits, exemplified by the paradigmatic non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model.We emulate this model by a 1D chain of spinless electrons evolving under unitary dynamics and subject to periodic measurements that are stochastically invoked.The non-Hermitian topology is visible in topological invariants adapted to the context of monitored circuits.For instance, the topological phase diagram of the monitored realization of the non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model is obtained from the biorthogonal polarization computed from an effective Hamiltonian of the monitored system.Importantly, our monitored circuit realization allows direct access to steady-state biorthogonal expectation values of generic observables, and hence, to measure physical properties of a genuine non-Hermitian model.We expect our results to be applicable more generally to a wide range of models that host non-Hermitian topological phases.
Complex spectra of dissipative quantum systems may exhibit degeneracies known as exceptional points (EPs). At these points the systems' dynamics may undergo drastic changes. Phenomena associated with EPs and their applications have been extensively studied in relation to various experimental platforms, including, i.e., the superconducting circuits. While most of the studies focus on EPs appearing due to the variation of the system's physical parameters, we focus on EPs emerging in the full counting statistics of the system. We consider a monitored three-level system and find multiple EPs in the Lindbladian eigenvalues considered as functions of a counting field. These “hidden” EPs are not accessible without the insertion of the counting field into the Linbladian, i.e., if only the density matrix of the system is studied. Nevertheless, we show that the hidden EPs are accessible experimentally. We demonstrate that these EPs signify transitions between different topological classes which are rigorously characterized in terms of the braid theory. Furthermore, we identify dynamical observables affected by these transitions and demonstrate how experimentally measured quantum jump distributions can be used to spot transitions between different topological regimes. Additionally, we establish a duality between the conventional Lindbladian EPs (zero counting field) and some of the “hidden” ones. Our findings allow for easier experimental observations of the EP transitions, normally concealed by the Lindbladian steady state, without applying postselection schemes. These results can be directly generalized to any monitored open system as long as it is described within the Lindbladian formalism.
"As the progress of science pushes the frontiers of studying nature to both the extremely large scale and the incredibly small scale, experiments can become increasingly difficult to perform. Therefore, a scale model experiment for these kinds of physics can be useful as long as it is relatively easy to access and control. This is the idea of quantum simulation, where one system exactly mimics another when they are subjected to equivalent physical scenarios. Topological systems, those with a property that is stabilized by their specific configuration, are often quite challenging to experimentally probe. Therefore, test bed systems have been widely and successfully applied to studying topology in an effort to advance the field, which promises enticing applications such as robust quantum technology. Our particular scheme uses a novel type of ""synthetic"" dimension for atoms of a Bose–Einstein condensate, which we call a momentum-space lattice, to emulate one-dimensional lattice models. The idea of a synthetic dimension or synthetic lattices is a useful construct to describe how the particle dynamics can evolve in degrees of freedom that are not directly related to transport in real space. This can relate to population dynamics in an internal degree of freedom, such as spin, or, in our case, in the dynamics of free-particle-like atomic momentum states. We expose a Bose–Einstein condensate to two laser fields that are capable of driving transitions between different momentum states of the condensate atoms through a two-photon Bragg diffraction process. Neighboring states in the free-particle dispersion relation are characterized by a unique momenta and energy spacing such that we can independently control every aspect of their coupling. In this thesis, we report on the design and construction of an apparatus for the production of 87Rb Bose–Einstein condensates as well as the partial construction of an apparatus for the production of 39K Bose–Einstein condensates. We also discuss the experimental realization of, and theoretical background for, our momentum-space lattice. Using the momentum-space lattice, we perform experiments on not only topological systems, but also on driven artificial spins featuring chaotic dynamics, as well as faster-than-adiabatic quantum state control and preparation. Our measurements of topological systems are based in the 1D Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model, where we report on the direct observation of the localized, solitonic edge state created by the topology inherent in the system. Through the addition of exactly tunable tunneling disorder, we observe the destruction of the band topology due to disorder at a random-singlet transition. Furthermore, we drive a trivial system into a topological phase through the addition of disorder, observing a counter-intuitive phenomenon known as the topological Anderson insulator for the first time. We go on to report on our driven, tunable spin experiment, where we probe effective spin ""squeezing"" (in the absence of any entanglement in our noninteracting system), the out-of-time-ordered correlation function, and chaos. And finally, we use our momentum-space lattice to demonstrate a technique which allows a system to be transformed faster than the adiabatic limit with no diabatic transitions in a highly non-trivial regime. Due to the versatility of the momentum-space lattice, the results detailed here have a broad impact. Our observations of topological phenomena in elementary and canonical 1D systems are some of the first experimental verifications of long-standing predictions. Further, our studies of the interplay between classical chaos and quantum systems may help shed light on this complex and rich problem. And from a more ""applied science"" perspective, our demonstrations of generalized counter-diabatic techniques are widely beneficial and applicable to many systems where adiabaticity is challenged."
Gauge theories and topological phases play a fundamental role in different areas of physics. The first ones are at the basis of the Standard Model in the field of particle physics, describing the electroweak and strong interactions through a non-Abelian gauge theory. In condensed matter and statistical physics, gauge theories arise as low-energy effective descriptions of strongly correlated phenomena, such as quantum spin liquids and quantum Hall effect. In this realm there is a strong connection with topological phases and order, as emergent gauge fermions and bosons often describe collective excitations of new exotic states of matter of spin models. The discretization on a lattice is a possible way of dealing with the strongly coupled nature of these theories, due to the fact that this formulation at finite volume provides natural regularizing cut-offs, i.e. the lattice size and spacing. This allows for the investigation of different non-perturbative properties both numerically and analytically. Despite the success of these methods, there are various aspects which remain intractable due to the sign or complex action problems, like the out of equilibrium real time evolution or the analysis of quantum chromodynamics with finite chemical potential. In this respect, quantum simulators of many-body systems to simulate high energy physics arise as promising alternatives to face these problems in the near future. They are quantum systems that can be controlled and used to simulate more complicated systems, whose properties could not be analysed with classical computational, experimental or theoretical tools. In the last decades, there has been a huge development in the fields of quantum optics and atomic physics, allowing for the realization highly precise and controllable platforms by means of trapped ions, superconducting circuits, Rydberg atoms and ultracold atoms in optical lattices. This work of Thesis is part of these fields and has different purposes, all of them connected with the study of gauge theories and topological phases. Firstly, we want to develop a reformulation of lattice gauge theories in terms of gauge invariant fields, in a way to deal solely with physical variables directly in the action. Among several possible advantages, a crucial point is that this can be particularly helpful for the construction of consistent approximation schemes, such as mean-field theories, in order to understand and capture some of the physical features of the theory and make the mean-field approximation consistent with the Elitzur theorem, stating that a local gauge symmetry can not be spontaneously broken. As a second point, we face the problem of simulating higher dimensional gauge theories with ultracold atoms. One of the challenges in more than one dimension is indeed the realization of plaquette interaction terms in the Hamiltonian of lattice gauge theories: these can be engineered through four correlated hoppings in perturbation theory, or by means of constrained hoppings in the dual formulation. In this respect, our main target is to set up an ultracold atomic platform generating the plaquette term in two dimensions using only two correlated hoppings, and protecting gauge invariance through angular momentum conservation. The last point we address in the Thesis is related to the analysis of particles moving in static background gauge potentials, i.e. when the considered gauge field has no dynamical term in the action of the system. Indeed, the dynamics of quantum particles in the presence of static gauge fields gives rise to intriguing physical phenomena. In particular, using ultracold atom setups, the realization of artificial gauge potentials can be used to investigate the physics of topological semimetals, such as Weyl or Dirac type. In the last ten years, a lot of attention has been paid to their characterization, due to the appearence of clear theoretical predictions and very well-controlled experimental techniques. We investigate here the relation between topological phase transitions and van Hove singularities, i.e. the discontinuities in the energy derivative of the density of states, in three-dimensional gapless systems. In such materials, topological phase transitions can be defined by changes of the topological invariants of the Fermi sheets, happening at specific singular points. Moreover, Fermi surface singularities result in the presence of the so-called van Hove points. We then present a general argument to relate topological phase transitions and van Hove singularities, and show observable consequences that are related to the transport properties of the system. We exemplify our argument in Weyl systems by analyzing the three-dimensional Hofstadter model for various commensurate fluxes, which offers the opportunity to consider different kinds of Weyl metals and to understand the features of their density of states.
We describe how to characterize dynamical phase transitions in open quantum systems from a purely dynamical perspective, namely, through the statistical behavior of quantum jump trajectories. This approach goes beyond considering only properties of the steady state. While in small quantum systems dynamical transitions can only occur trivially at limiting values of the controlling parameters, in many-body systems they arise as collective phenomena and within this perspective they are reminiscent of thermodynamic phase transitions. We illustrate this in open models of increasing complexity: a three-level system, the micromaser, and a dissipative version of the quantum Ising model. In these examples dynamical transitions are accompanied by clear changes in static behavior. This is however not always the case, and, in general, dynamical phases need to be uncovered by observables which are strictly dynamical, e.g., dynamical counting fields. We demonstrate this via the example of a class of models of dissipative quantum glasses, whose dynamics can vary widely despite having identical (and trivial) stationary states.
Measurement-induced phase transitions have largely been explored for projective or continuous measurements of Hermitian observables, assuming perfect detection without information loss. Yet such transitions also arise in more general settings, including quantum-jump processes with non-Hermitian jump operators, and under inefficient detection. A theoretical framework for treating these broader scenarios has been missing. Here we develop a comprehensive replica Keldysh field theory for general quantum-jump processes in both bosonic and fermionic systems. Our formalism provides a unified description of pure-state quantum trajectories under efficient detection and mixed-state dynamics emerging from inefficient monitoring, with deterministic Lindbladian evolution appearing as a limiting case. It thus establishes a direct connection between phase transitions in nonequilibrium steady states of driven open quantum matter and in measurement-induced dynamics. As an application, we study imbalanced and inefficient fermion counting in a one-dimensional lattice system: monitored gain and loss of fermions occurring at different rates, with a fraction of gain and loss jumps undetected. For imbalanced but efficient counting, we recover the qualitative picture of the balanced case: entanglement obeys an area law for any nonzero jump rate, with an extended quantum-critical regime emerging between two parametrically separated length scales. Inefficient detection introduces a finite correlation length beyond which entanglement, as quantified by the fermionic logarithmic negativity, obeys an area law, while the subsystem entropy shows volume-law scaling. Numerical simulations support our analytical findings. Our results offer a general and versatile theoretical foundation for studying measurement-induced phenomena across a wide class of monitored and open quantum systems.