This thesis discusses the dynamics of quantum-optical systems located in complex, non-markovian photonic environments, using numerical simulations as well as analytical derivations. The main focus lies on time-delayed quantum-coherent feedback effects of the Pyragas type, in analogy to effects well-known in classical physics. Time-delayed feedback is treated as a specific kind of a non-markovian environment. Additionally, the control of qubit entanglement in optical cavities is studied. The thesis consists of three main parts: After an overview of the important concepts of quantum optics, advanced methods for the description and numerical treatment of time-delayed quantum-coherent feedback are presented. The main focus lies on the development of a pseudomode-based approach, which describes time-delayed feedback as the coupling to a complex network of lossy harmonic oscillators. Additionally, further methods for numerical simplification are presented, in particular nonlinear expectation value dynamics for the treatment of arbitrary non-markovian reservoirs, as well as the use of input-output theory for time-delayed feedback. In the second part, applications of time-delayed feedback to control quantum statistics are discussed. First it is demonstrated that time-delayed feedback can be used to create and sustain entanglement between coupled qubits. This approach will then be extended to larger networks of qubits. Afterwards, feedback control is applied to nonlinear quantum-optical systems: It is shown how to use it for the stabilization of Fock states in a cavity containing a Kerr medium, and this analysis is expanded to a cavity containing a two-level system. Furthermore, it is shown how time-delayed feedback can be used to control and enhance the entanglement of photons emitted in a biexciton cascade. In the third and last part, the non-equilibrium dynamics of qubits coupled to a photonic environment consisting of high-Q cavities subject to periodic driving are discussed. First, the connection between bistability and entanglement in a cavity containing two qubits is analyzed. Next a setup of two coupled cavities, containing a qubit each, is examined. The influence of a third cavity in between the two other cavities, simulating a delay line, is analyzed. Furthermore, a protocol is developed on how to overcome dephasing between the two qubits, using a resonant Raman scattering process. It is shown that this protocol can create and sustain high values of entanglement, and is ready to be extended to systems of more than two qubits.
This thesis discusses the dynamics of quantum-optical systems located in complex, non-markovian photonic environments, using numerical simulations as well as analytical derivations. The main focus lies on time-delayed quantum-coherent feedback effects of the Pyragas type, in analogy to effects well-known in classical physics. Time-delayed feedback is treated as a specific kind of a non-markovian environment. Additionally, the control of qubit entanglement in optical cavities is studied. The thesis consists of three main parts: After an overview of the important concepts of quantum optics, advanced methods for the description and numerical treatment of time-delayed quantum-coherent feedback are presented. The main focus lies on the development of a pseudomode-based approach, which describes time-delayed feedback as the coupling to a complex network of lossy harmonic oscillators. Additionally, further methods for numerical simplification are presented, in particular nonlinear expectation value dynamics for the treatment of arbitrary non-markovian reservoirs, as well as the use of input-output theory for time-delayed feedback. In the second part, applications of time-delayed feedback to control quantum statistics are discussed. First it is demonstrated that time-delayed feedback can be used to create and sustain entanglement between coupled qubits. This approach will then be extended to larger networks of qubits. Afterwards, feedback control is applied to nonlinear quantum-optical systems: It is shown how to use it for the stabilization of Fock states in a cavity containing a Kerr medium, and this analysis is expanded to a cavity containing a two-level system. Furthermore, it is shown how time-delayed feedback can be used to control and enhance the entanglement of photons emitted in a biexciton cascade. In the third and last part, the non-equilibrium dynamics of qubits coupled to a photonic environment consisting of high-Q cavities subject to periodic driving are discussed. First, the connection between bistability and entanglement in a cavity containing two qubits is analyzed. Next a setup of two coupled cavities, containing a qubit each, is examined. The influence of a third cavity in between the two other cavities, simulating a delay line, is analyzed. Furthermore, a protocol is developed on how to overcome dephasing between the two qubits, using a resonant Raman scattering process. It is shown that this protocol can create and sustain high values of entanglement, and is ready to be extended to systems of more than two qubits.
In this thesis three different approaches to control the quantum statistics in nanoscopic devices are investigated. In the first part of the thesis, mechanical oscillations in solid state devices are manipulated by an external laser to show bistabilities, coherent amplification, and enhanced damping. The dynamics is controlled by the frequency of the external laser. This study is performed in a semiclassical approximation, where expectation values of operators are factorized. These effects are used to show the similarities and differences between optomechanical systems and phonon cavities. In the regime of coherent amplification of phonons the theoretical description is extended to a fully quantum mechanical model. This reveals additional resonances due to collective processes that can be addressed via the frequency of the external laser. In the second part, a quantum light source is considered for manipulation of the emission statistics of a second quantum optical system serving as target. A Jaynes-Cummings system is used as a source that may be tuned from nonclassical to thermal emission via the pump strength. The target consists of a cavity with two emitters. The nature of the imprinted statistics is studied by higher order correlation functions. The resulting statistics deviates strongly from thermal, coherent or antibunched statistics. The third part considers coherent self feedback with time-delay, which is motivated by classical Pyragas control. The finite time delay is used as control parameter. The matrix product state evolution in the picture of the quantum stochastic Schrödinger equation is employed as a systematic way of dealing with quantum self-feedback. In this thesis, the approach is extended to include higher order terms in the time evolution operator. This is done systematically so that arbitrary order can be included enabling faster numerical evaluation. This extension of the matrix product state evolution method allows to investigate efficiently the emission statistics of a single mode cavity containing two emitters. It is shown that feedback can enhance antibunching in the light field while also counter-intuitively increasing the number of emitted photons at the same time. Expressing the time evolution operator as a sum of sparse matrices allows to include time dependent Hamiltonians in an efficient manner. Considering the pulsed excitation of a two level emitter, it is demonstrated that emission statistics may be tuned via feedback. This allows to switch between single photon emission and enhanced two photon emission.
The emergence of integrated (or solid state) photonic systems, including quantum dots, waveguides, and cavities, has provided a base to harness quantum optic phenomena for use in current and future quantum technologies. These systems also provide opportunities for exploring fundamentally new regimes in quantum optics. In order to fully realize the potential of these systems, many figures of merit need to be improved, for example by increasing the stability and coherent lifetimes of these systems. Following the notable improvements using measurement-based feedback, time-delayed coherent optical feedback has been proposed as one such method of stabilizing and improving these systems. Furthermore, modelling coherent feedback itself presents an interesting fundamental problem due to its non-Markovian nature. In this thesis, we use quantum trajectory (QT) theory to derive two models for simulating cavity quantum electrodynamic (cavity-QED) systems with time-delayed coherent feedback. First, an explanation of QT theory is given and the related time discretized waveguide (TDW) model is derived. Next we present a model for feedback using the frequency modes of the waveguide and results are presented in the ``one photon in the loop" approximation. We demonstrate how the photon lifetime can be improved in typical cavity-QED with coherent feedback and we explore some nonlinear effects. We then expand the system to allow for two photons in the feedback loop which requires us to use the TDW model. Lastly, this new approach is used to model two two-level systems coupled via a waveguide and connected to a feedback loop. These findings have implications on improving quantum optic systems by creating a new degree of control, as well as for modelling non-Markovian features in quantum optics.
To continue developing quantum technologies, such as quantum computing, quantum communication and quantum cryptography, we need reliable sources of quantum states of light. These quantum states of light can come in many forms; single photons, entangled pairs, bunched and anti-bunched light, all have uses in current quantum technologies, but for the best performance, this light must maintain its coherence. Time-delayed coherent feedback is a passive feedback method proposed for waveguide quantum electrodynamic systems to improve their performance and unlock new quantum optical phenomena. Additionally, due to its underlying non-Markovian dynamics, feedback is also an interesting theoretical problem to study. In this thesis, we use a quantum trajectory discretized waveguide (QTDW) model to simulate feedback dynamics and investigate its effects in a variety of applications. Originally proposed by Whalen in 2018, we develop the QTDW model beyond its initial implementation to now calculate quantum correlation functions, output spectra, waiting time distributions, and single photon source figures of merit. First, we present an explanation of quantum trajectory theory which is used to model the time dynamics in the QTDW approach, and discuss feedback in the linear regime to highlight the differences between Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics with coherent feedback. We next present nonlinear spectra and multi-photon effects from coherent feedback highlighting how the typical Mollow triplet is dressed by the feedback to create new resonances in the output field. This is followed by a collaborative theory and experiment work which observed our predicted non-Markovian signatures in the nonlinear output spectrum along with new non-Markovian phenomena in the linear regime. We then investigate how pulse-triggered single photon sources can be improved through the inclusion of a time-delayed coherent feedback, presenting the possible improvement to the performance figures of merit. Lastly, the modeling techniques developed for single photon sources with feedback are used to compare the performance of three new off-resonant driving techniques for on-demand single photon sources. These findings show time-delayed coherent feedback is an excellent degree of control to include in future waveguide quantum electrodynamic systems to unlock better performance and new phenomena in the system under investigation.
The subject of this thesis is the modelling of non-Markovian open quantum systems, in particular those that display memory effects due to time-delayed interactions. I study these systems in the context of a model of an open quantum system that interacts with a bosonic environment by way of particle exchanges. While the model is flexible enough to describe quite general memory effects, this work focuses to a large extent on a single prototypical system. This system emits into a coherent feedback loop with a time delay, and it captures the essential phenomena we aim to model. Within the context of this general model, I develop a general approach to spontaneous emission from singly-excited systems and show how to calculate the corresponding emission spectra. I also evaluate two commonly-used perturbative techniques in the context of spontaneous emission from singly-excited systems, coming to the conclusion that perturbation theory is of limited use in modelling open quantum systems with delayed feedback. I then turn attention to exact equations of motion for more general non-Markovian open quantum systems. I derive Heisenberg–Langevin equations that describe a large class of such systems, and solve these equations analytically for a series of simple bosonic systems. I also use the theory of cascaded open quantum systems to simulate systems with delayed coherent feedback in the limit of long time delay, and compare the results of these simulations with the analytic solutions obtained in the Heisenberg picture. Finally, I show that once we have a solution to a given Heisenberg–Langevin equation we can derive an alternative, time-local equation of motion that describes equivalent dynamics, and that these time-local Heisenberg–Langevin equations can in turn be used to derive corresponding time-local master equations. These master equations provide an exact description of the non-Markovian dynamics, but this treatment is limited to linear, bosonic systems—those systems for which the Heisenberg–Langevin equations can be solved in closed form. I discuss the prospect of generalising these master equations to take into account nonlinear and fermionic systems.
We describe an efficient approach to modeling cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) with a time-delayed coherent feedback using quantum trajectory simulations. An analytical set of equations is derived to exploit the advantages of trajectories in the presence of the non-Markovian dynamics, where adjustments to the standard stochastic dynamics are discussed. In the weak excitation regime, we first verify that our approach recovers known results obtained with other simulation methods and demonstrate how a coherent feedback loop can increase the photon lifetime in typical cavity-QED systems. We also highlight the underlying stochastic dynamics. We then explore the nonlinear few-photon regime of cavity QED, under the restriction of at most one photon at a time in the feedback loop. In particular, we show how feedback affects the cavity photoluminescence (populations versus laser detuning) and describe how one must account for conditioning in the presence of feedback; specifically, the system observables must be conditioned on no photon detections at the feedback output channel occurring.
The study of open quantum systems forms one of the main problems of modern physics. This thesis aims at contributing to this field, and focuses on the investigation of non-Markovian dynamics of open quantum systems. Here, as a special case, quantum many-body systems provide for a rich field of research. With the ability to control them being of essential importance for the development of quantum technologies, the characterization of their dynamical properties has also drawn a lot of interest lately. One of the main methodological tasks in the study of open quantum systems is to reduce the infinite degrees of freedom of the total system. In order to achieve this, the thesis makes use of the tensor network method matrix product states and combines it with the picture of the quantum stochastic Schrödinger equation. However, when computing the dynamics of many-body systems of system size N, even the reduced system dynamics scale with 2N, making larger system sizes difficult to access. Therefore, especially when computing non-Markovian time-dynamics where the information backflow from the reservoir has to be taken into account, efficiently constructed algorithms are required. This thesis proposes these type of algorithms and demonstrates their application. They enable an access to larger system sizes, thus making it possible to investigate non-equilibrium steady-states of quantum many-body systems in a non-Markovian interaction for system sizes up to N=30. This thesis consists of three parts. The first part provides an introduction to the theory of open quantum systems and to the methodology for modeling them. The second part examines many-body system-reservoir interaction in the non-Markovian regime by investigating the case of fully coherent self-feedback. It uses the one-dimensional Heisenberg spin-1/2 chain as a paradigmatic and recently intensely studied many-body system. It is demonstrated that this gives rise to new conditions for the feedback phase and to highly non-trivial states within the system as well as to the possibility of partially characterizing the system non-invasively and storing excitation within it. Next, a novel approach to the boundary-driven Heisenberg chain is presented, where the chain is exposed to a coherent driving field, thus enabling a comparison to the well-studied incoherently driven model. The third part demonstrates the use of an external pump to control the feedback phase of a Lambda-type three-level system, where the external pump pulse is shown to be a new control parameter. The thesis concludes with the proposition to enhance the indistinguishability of two photons by feedback control.