Two-photon light-matter interactions exhibit distinctive features such as spectral collapse. The two-photon Dicke model has been reported to exhibit a superradiant phase which could be useful in quantum applications. Here we show that this superradiant phase is not a genuine thermodynamic phase but a finite-size effect. Combining analytical and numerical analyses, we demonstrate that the superradiant region shrinks with increasing system size and disappears in the thermodynamic limit, while spectral collapse remains. Our results clarify the nature of superradiant conditions in two-photon systems and constrain its realization in quantum platforms.
Two-photon light-matter interactions exhibit distinctive features such as spectral collapse. The two-photon Dicke model has been reported to exhibit a superradiant phase which could be useful in quantum applications. Here we show that this superradiant phase is not a genuine thermodynamic phase but a finite-size effect. Combining analytical and numerical analyses, we demonstrate that the superradiant region shrinks with increasing system size and disappears in the thermodynamic limit, while spectral collapse remains. Our results clarify the nature of superradiant conditions in two-photon systems and constrain its realization in quantum platforms.
The controllability of current quantum technologies allows one to implement spin-boson models where two-photon couplings are the dominating terms of light-matter interaction. In this case, when the coupling strength becomes comparable with the characteristic frequencies, a spectral collapse can take place, i.e., the discrete system spectrum can collapse into a continuous band. Here, we analyze the thermodynamic limit of the two-photon Dicke model, which describes the interaction of an ensemble of qubits with a single bosonic mode. We find that there exists a parameter regime where two-photon interactions induce a superradiant phase transition, before the spectral collapse occurs. Furthermore, we extend the mean-field analysis by considering second-order quantum fluctuation terms, in order to analyze the low-energy spectrum and compare the critical behavior with the one-photon case.
Light-matter systems that exhibit two-photon interactions have emerged as powerful platforms for exploring quantum applications. In this work, we focus on the two-photon Dicke model, a system of significant experimental relevance that displays spectral collapse and undergoes a phase transition from a normal to a superradiant phase. We analyze the normal phase, where a classical limit with two degrees of freedom can be derived using a mean-field approximation. Our study presents a detailed investigation of the loss of integrability in the two-photon Dicke model, employing both quantum and classical diagnostics. These results allow us to explore various dynamical features of the system, including the onset of chaos and the existence of mixed phase-space behavior.
The Dicke model is a paradigmatic quantum-optical model describing the interaction of a collection of two-level systems with a single bosonic mode. Effective implementations of this model made it possible to observe the emergence of superradiance, i.e., cooperative phenomena arising from the collective nature of light-matter interactions. Via reservoir engineering and analogue quantum simulation techniques, current experimental platforms allow us not only to implement the Dicke model but also to design more exotic interactions, such as the two-photon Dicke model. In the Hamiltonian case, this model presents an interesting phase diagram characterized by two quantum criticalities: a superradiant phase transition and a spectral collapse, that is, the coalescence of discrete energy levels into a continuous band. Here, we investigate the effects of both qubit and photon dissipation on the phase transition and on the instability induced by the spectral collapse. Using a mean-field decoupling approximation, we analytically obtain the steady-state expectation values of the observables signaling a symmetry breaking, identifying a first-order phase transition from the normal to the superradiant phase. Our stability analysis unveils a very rich phase diagram, which features stable, bistable, and unstable phases depending on the dissipation rate.
Abstract In this paper, we theoretically investigate Dicke phase transition at finite temperature in a hybrid optical-mechanical system. The thermodynamic equilibrium states are presented by means of the functional path-integral approach. We plot the mean photon number of the two cavities and the corresponding phase diagram showing the effects of the coupling strength between the two cavities, the nonlinear photon-phonon interaction strength, the finite temperature, the detuning of the two cavities. The coupling strength between the two cavities can make the phase boundary of the normal phase (NP) to the superradiant phase (SP) shift left with the increase of the atom-field coupling strength. The region of the SP is suppressed completely and the SP disappears completely with the increase of the coupling strength between the two cavities or the nonlinear photon-phonon interaction strength, finally just the NP and the dynamically unstable state (DUS) exist. The nonlinear photon-phonon coupling strength just affects the turning curve, but not the phase boundary. The unstable non-zero photon number state and the SP are coexistent, similar to the optical bistability.
In this doctoral thesis, the thermodynamic phases und phase transitions of a generalised Dicke model are studied and characterised. Both, finite and vanishing temperatures are considered. The Dicke model of quantum optics describes collective phenomena which occur when light interacts with a many-atom system. In the thermodynamic limit, a so-called Hepp–Lieb superradiant phase transition sets in. A superradiant phase develops for low temperatures or strong coupling between light and atoms, which is characterised by a macroscopic excitation of the light field and a spontaneous, collective polarisation of the atoms. This thesis discusses a generalised version of the Dicke model, which is described by a quantum mechanical system consisting of three-level atoms in Lambda-configuration and two modes of a resonator. By means of the Holstein–Primakoff transformation, the Hamiltonian of this system is written in terms of four interacting, non-linear oscillators, which can be linearised in the thermodynamic limit, yielding the ground-state energy as well as the low-energy excitations. The phase diagram consisting of two superradiant phases separated by continuous and first-order phase transitions is derived. In order to clarify the question whether or not the superradiant phase transition of this generalised Dicke model can be observed experimentally for real atoms, the significance of the diamagnetic term is discussed. In contrast to the original Dicke model, superradiant phase transitions are possible in principle. This is due to the first-order phase transitions. In addition, a no-go theorem for continuous superradiant phase transitions is presented. The argument is based on the Thomas–Reiche–Kuhn sum rule. Last, we study the superradiant phase transition of the generalised Dicke model at finite temperatures. Therefore, the partition sum is computed and analysed in the thermodynamic limit using Laplace’s method. At finite temperatures, the properties of the phase diagram and phases remain. However, here all phase transitions are of first order.
The Dicke model famously exhibits a phase transition to a superradiant phase with a macroscopic population of photons and is realized in multiple settings in open quantum systems. In this paper, we study a variant of the Dicke model where the cavity mode is lossy due to the coupling to a Markovian environment while the atomic mode is coupled to a colored bath. We analytically investigate this model by inspecting its low-frequency behavior via the Schwinger-Keldysh field theory and carefully examine the nature of the corresponding superradiant phase transition. Integrating out the fast modes, we can identify a simple effective theory allowing us to derive analytical expressions for various critical exponents including the dynamical exponent. We find excellent agreement with previous numerical results when the non-Markovian bath is at zero temperature; however, contrary to these studies, our low-frequency approach reveals that the same exponents govern the critical behavior when the colored bath is at finite temperature unless the chemical potential is zero. Furthermore, we show that the superradiant phase transition is classical in nature, while it is genuinely nonequilibrium. We derive a fractional Langevin equation and conjecture the associated fractional Fokker-Planck equation that captures the system's long-time memory as well as its nonequilibrium behavior. Finally, we consider finite-size effects at the phase transition and identify the finite-size scaling exponents, unlocking a rich behavior in both statics and dynamics of the photonic and atomic observables.