We study superradiant phase transition (SPT) phenomena for high-precision quantum thermometry applications in bio-photonics. Comprehensive thermodynamic properties of quantum thermo-sensor that exploits two thermodynamically distinguishable states of N inhomogeneously broadened two-level quantum systems (TLSs) interacting with a quantized electromagnetic field in the cavity are elucidated. We fully describe superradiant field amplitude (cavity photon number) that represents the order parameter and exhibits the second order phase transition, which can be used for initialization of operating regimes in temperature sensorics. Temperature sensitivity and temperature accuracy is analyzed in the framework of quantum estimation theory. Scaling for standard quantum limit (SQL), up to Heisenberg limit for temperature estimation is predicted.
We study superradiant phase transition (SPT) phenomena for high-precision quantum thermometry applications in bio-photonics. Comprehensive thermodynamic properties of quantum thermo-sensor that exploits two thermodynamically distinguishable states of N inhomogeneously broadened two-level quantum systems (TLSs) interacting with a quantized electromagnetic field in the cavity are elucidated. We fully describe superradiant field amplitude (cavity photon number) that represents the order parameter and exhibits the second order phase transition, which can be used for initialization of operating regimes in temperature sensorics. Temperature sensitivity and temperature accuracy is analyzed in the framework of quantum estimation theory. Scaling for standard quantum limit (SQL), up to Heisenberg limit for temperature estimation is predicted.
Entanglement and quantum correlations between atoms are not usually considered key ingredients of the superradiant phase transition. Here we consider the Tavis-Cummings model, a solvable system of two-levels atoms, coupled with a single-mode quantized electromagnetic field. This system undergoes a superradiant phase transition, even in a finite-size framework, accompanied by a spontaneous symmetry breaking, and an infinite sequence of energy level crossings. We find approximated expressions for the ground state, its energy, and the position of the level crossings, valid in the limit of a very large number of photons with respect to that of the atoms. In that same limit, we find that the number of photons scales quadratically with the coupling strength, and linearly with the system size, providing a new insight into the superradiance phenomenon. Resorting to novel multipartite measures, we then demonstrate that this quantum phase transition is accompanied by a crossover in the quantum correlations and entanglement between the atoms (qubits). The latters therefore represent suited order parameters for this transition. Finally, we show that these properties of the quantum phase transition persist in the thermodynamic limit.
Entanglement and quantum correlations between atoms are not usually considered key ingredients of the superradiant phase transition. Here we consider the Tavis−Cummings model, a solvable system of two-levels atoms, coupled with a single-mode quantized electromagnetic field. This system undergoes a superradiant phase transition, even in a finite-size framework, accompanied by a spontaneous symmetry breaking, and an infinite sequence of energy level crossings. We find approximated expressions for the ground state, its energy, and the position of the level crossings, valid in the limit of a very large number of photons with respect to that of the atoms. In that same limit, we find that the number of photons scales quadratically with the coupling strength, and linearly with the system size, providing a new insight into the superradiance phenomenon. Resorting to novel multipartite measures, we then demonstrate that this quantum phase transition is accompanied by a crossover in the quantum correlations and entanglement between the atoms (qubits). The latters therefore represent suited order parameters for this transition. Finally, we show that these properties of the quantum phase transition persist in the thermodynamic limit.
Optomechanical cavity is a powerful connection between a nanomechanical oscillator and a quantized electromagnetic field. In this system, a novel photon-phonon nonlinear interaction arising from the nanomechanical oscillation is produced through the radiation pressure. Now this nonlinear photon-phonon interaction has become an important resource for implementing high-precision measurements and processing quantum information. Motivated by T. Esslinger group’s experiment, it is very meaningful to explore the exotic quantum phenomena when a ultra-cold BEC is trapped in an optomechanical cavity. In this paper, we mainly investigate phase transition and the finite-temperature thermodynamic properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optomechanical cavity. It’s worth mentioning that at zero temperature many different mean-field approximate methods have been used to analyze the ground state properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optomechanical cavity. Two common methods are Holstein-Primakoff transformation and spin coherent state variation. In this paper, an interesting imaginary-time path integral approach has been introduced to study finite temperature thermodynamic properties and phase transition of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optomechanical cavity. First, we obtained system's partition function by taking imaginary-time path integration. Meanwhile, an effective action has been obtained by means of this method, which is the basic of the variation to get the numerical solution of photon number and the expression of the atomic number. At zero temperature, these results are consistent with what we have obtained by Holstein-Primakoff transformation or spin coherent state variational method. By adjusting the atom-field coupling strength and other parameters the second-order phase transition from the normal phase to the superradiant phase has been revealed. Meanwhile, a new unstable superradiant state was also found. And we found that in addition to the normal phase and superradiation phase, there exists an un-solution region of the mean photon number. Meanwhile, we find that the nonlinear photon-phonon interaction does not affect the normal phase. However, in the superradiant phase, the nonlinear photon-phonon interaction can enhance the macroscopic collective excitations. At the same time, the thermodynamic properties of the system are also discussed. According to the obtained distribution function, we can derive the analytical expression of the average energy and the free energy. Furthermore, the expression of entropy at finite temperature can also be obtained. we find the nonlinear photon-phonon interaction does not affect the average energy in the normal phase, but the average energy in the superradiant phase can deeply deviate in the large nonlinear photon-phonon interaction. It’s worth mentioning that the mean photon number and average energy in the finite-temperature tend to be consistent with the case in absolute zero temperature in the strong coupling region, while the entropy in the superradiant phase is rapidly reduced to zero as the atom-field coupling strength increases. In other words, strongly coupled collective excited states are highly ordered and are not affected by thermal fluctuations in the temperature range we are considering. The thermodynamic properties, such as the entropy and corresponding specific heat, characterize the Dicke phase transition.
Quantum metrology, a cornerstone of quantum technologies, exploits entanglement and superposition to achieve higher precision than classical protocols in parameter-estimation tasks. When combined with critical phenomena such as phase transitions, the divergence of quantum fluctuations is predicted to enhance the performance of quantum sensors. Here, we implement a critical quantum sensor using a superconducting parametric (i.e., two-photon driven) Kerr resonator. The sensor, a linear resonator terminated by a superconducting quantum interference device, operates near the critical point of a finite-component second-order dissipative phase transition obtained by scaling the system parameters. We analyze the performance of a frequency-estimation protocol and show that quadratic precision scaling with respect to the system size can be achieved with finite values of the Kerr nonlinearity. Since each photon emitted from the cavity carries more information about the parameter to be estimated compared to its classical counterpart, our protocol opens up perspectives for faster or more precise metrological protocols. Our results demonstrate that quantum advantage in a sensing protocol can be achieved by exploiting a phase transition.
Quantum thermometry has long promised sensitivities beyond classical limits, with recent paradigms highlighting quantum coherence as a primary driver of precision. While most studies focus on single-point temperature estimation, we extend this framework to the spatial domain. We consider a probe two-level system (TLS) coupled asymmetrically to an auxiliary TLS that equilibrates with a sample of profile T(x). The reduced probe state carries coherence in its local basis that remains temperature-sensitive after the probe transition has frozen out, yielding a Fisher information exponentially larger at low temperature than that of a population-only readout. An exact reparametrization converts the thermometric precision into a local spatial distinguishability bound; its validity requires only a sufficiently small relative temperature uncertainty and yields an explicit measurement budget. Adding auxiliary TLSs shifts the array's optimal working temperature upward and broadens the useful sensing window, with the achievable gain ultimately limited by the total available coupling rather than by an indefinite scaling law. Finally, we propose a microwave Mach-Zehnder interferometer that maps the temperature-dependent probe coherence onto an experimentally accessible quadrature observable.
Quantum phase transitions are often embodied by the critical behavior of purely quantum quantities such as entanglement or quantum fluctuations. In critical regions, we underline a general scaling relation between the entanglement entropy and one of the most fundamental and simplest measure of the quantum fluctuations, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Then, we show that the latter represents a sensitive probe of superradiant quantum phase transitions in standard models of photons such as the Dicke Hamiltonian, which embodies an ensemble of two-level systems interacting with one quadrature of a single and uniform bosonic field. We derive exact results in the thermodynamic limit and for a finite number N of two-level systems: as a reminiscence of the entanglement properties between light and the two-level systems, the product $\ensuremath{\Delta}x\ensuremath{\Delta}p$ diverges at the quantum critical point as N1/6. We generalize our results to the double quadrature Dicke model where the two quadratures of the bosonic field are now coupled to two independent sets of two-level systems. Our findings, which show that the entanglement properties between light and matter can be accessed through the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, can be tested using Bose-Einstein condensates in optical cavities and circuit quantum electrodynamics.