Abstract We study the dynamical evolution and symmetry breaking of the non-Hermitian double Jaynes–Cummings model with symmetry. The results indicate that there exist symmetry maintained and breaking phase in this model, and the non-Hermitian terms lead to different behaviors in two phases. In the symmetry phase, there exists stable Rabi oscillation caused by the interaction between photons and atoms. At the exceptional point, the system shows critical property that the probabilities in each state over time tend to be equal. The system will undergo a transition from the symmetry phase to the symmetry breaking phase, as increasing the coupling constant. In the symmetry breaking phase, complex eigenvalues appear, and the probability in each state increases monotonically in an exponential form. This study can help us to understand the effect of symmetry on the interaction between photons and atoms in non-Hermitian systems.
Abstract We study the dynamical evolution and symmetry breaking of the non-Hermitian double Jaynes–Cummings model with symmetry. The results indicate that there exist symmetry maintained and breaking phase in this model, and the non-Hermitian terms lead to different behaviors in two phases. In the symmetry phase, there exists stable Rabi oscillation caused by the interaction between photons and atoms. At the exceptional point, the system shows critical property that the probabilities in each state over time tend to be equal. The system will undergo a transition from the symmetry phase to the symmetry breaking phase, as increasing the coupling constant. In the symmetry breaking phase, complex eigenvalues appear, and the probability in each state increases monotonically in an exponential form. This study can help us to understand the effect of symmetry on the interaction between photons and atoms in non-Hermitian systems.
We discuss the physics of the Rabi-Hubbard model describing large arrays of coupled cavities interacting with two level atoms via a Rabi non-linearity. We show that the inclusion of counter-rotating terms in the light-matter interaction, often neglected in theoretical descriptions based on Jaynes-Cumming models, is crucial to stabilize finite-density quantum phases of correlated photons with no need for an artificially engineered chemical potential. We show that the physical properties of these phases and the quantum phase transition occurring between them is remarkably different from those of interacting bosonic massive quantum particles. The competition between photon delocalization and Rabi non-linearity drives the system across a novel Z2 parity symmetry-breaking quantum phase transition between two gapped phases, a Rabi insulator and a delocalized super-radiant phase.
Non-Hermitian systems having parity-time (PT) symmetry can undergo a transition, spontaneously breaking the symmetry. Ultracold atomic gases provide an ideal platform to study interaction effects on the transition. We consider a model system of N bosons of two components confined in a tight trap. Radio-frequency and laser fields are coupled to the bosons such that the single-particle Non-Hermitian Hamiltonian ${h}_{\mathcal{P}T}=\ensuremath{-}i\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{z}+J{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{x}$, which has PT symmetry, can be simulated in a passive way, namely, in the physical system there is only incurred atom loss but no gain. We show that when interatomic interactions are tuned to maintain the symmetry, the PT-symmetry-breaking transition is affected only by the SU(2) variant part of the interatomic interactions. We find that the transition point ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}}_{\mathrm{tr}}$ decreases as the strength of this interaction part or N increases; in the strong strength limit for this interaction part, ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}}_{\mathrm{tr}}$ scales as the strength to the power of $\ensuremath{-}(N\ensuremath{-}1)$. We also give signatures of the PT-symmetric and the symmetry-breaking phases for the interacting bosons in experiment.
Abstract The experimental advance on light–matter interaction into strong couplings has invalidated the Jaynes–Cummings model and brought the quantum Rabi model (QRM) to more relevance. The QRM only involves linear coupling via a single -photon process (SPP), while the nonlinear two -photon process (TPP) is weaker and conventionally neglected. However, we find a contrary trend that enhancing the linear coupling might not suppress the nonlinear effect more but backfire to trigger some collapse of linear characters. Indeed, in strong SPP couplings a tiny strength of the TPP may dramatically change properties of the system, like a symmetry spontaneous breaking. By extracting the ground-state phase diagram including both a SPP and TPP, we find the TPP in low frequency limit induces a quantum phase transition with continuity–discontinuity double faces, which split into two distinct transitions at finite frequencies and yields a triple point. Our analysis unveils a subtle SPP–TPP entanglement.
Abstract Two non‐Hermitian two‐photon quantum Rabi models (tpQRM) that exhibit parity‐time () symmetry are investigated: the biased tpQRM (btpQRM), where the qubit bias is purely imaginary, and the dissipative tpQRM (dtpQRM), where the two‐photon coupling is made imaginary to introduce dissipation. For both models, exact solutions are derived using Bogoliubov transformations. In the btpQRM, spectral collapse is identified at a critical coupling strength, with accompanying symmetry breaking that correlates with exceptional points (EPs) arising from coalescing eigenstates. A direct correspondence is established between ‐broken regions and the doubly degenerate points of the Hermitian tpQRM, and the effect of qubit bias is analyzed via an adiabatic approximation. In the dtpQRM, although no spectral collapse occurs, both EPs and Juddian‐type degeneracies are present, with distinct behaviors governed by parity conservation. Through biorthogonal fidelity susceptibility and c‐product, the nature of these two types of level crossings is successfully identified and characterized. Finally, the dynamical evolution of both models is compared, revealing fundamentally different pathways to steady states governed by their respective non‐Hermitian spectral structures. These results provide exact characterizations of ‐symmetric non‐Hermitian tpQRMs and may offer theoretical insights for future experimental realizations.
Abstract In this paper we analyze properties of the phase transition that appears in a set of quantum optical models; Dicke, Tavis–Cummings, quantum Rabi, and finally the Jaynes–Cummings model. As the light-matter coupling is increased into the deep strong coupling regime, the ground state turns from vacuum to become a superradiant state characterized by both atomic and photonic excitations. It is pointed out that all four transitions are of the mean-field type, that quantum fluctuations are negligible, and hence these fluctuations cannot be responsible for the corresponding vacuum instability. In this respect, these are not quantum phase transitions. In the case of the Tavis–Cummings and Jaynes–Cummings models, the continuous symmetry of these models implies that quantum fluctuations are not only negligible, but strictly zero. However, all models possess a non-analyticity in the ground state in agreement with a continuous quantum phase transition. As such, it is a matter of taste whether the transitions should be termed quantum or not. In addition, we also consider the modifications of the transitions when photon losses are present. For the Dicke and Rabi models these non-equilibrium steady states remain critical, while the criticality for the open Tavis–Cummings and Jaynes–Cummings models is completely lost, i.e. in realistic settings one cannot expect a true critical behaviour for the two last models.
The PT -symmetric semiclassical Rabi model explores the fundamental interaction between a two-level atom and a classical field, revealing novel phenomena in open systems through the inclusion of non-Hermitian terms. We propose a single similarity transformation that yields an effective Hamiltonian in rotating-wave approximation, enabling an analytical solution. The phase boundary of the PT -broken phase, derived from the analytical eigenvalues, closely matches the numerically exact one over a wide range of atomic frequencies, demonstrating the effectiveness of the analytical approach, especially at the main resonance. The Floquet parity operator is also introduced, providing a deeper physical understanding of the emergence of the PT -broken phase. Furthermore, by analyzing the dynamics of excited-state population, we observe several stable oscillations in the Fourier spectrum, demonstrating the applicability of the analytical method beyond the single-photon resonance region. The Bloch-Siegert shift is also discussed, and surprisingly, resembles its Hermitian counterpart, except for the higher-order terms in the coupling strength. The present analytical treatment provides a concise and accurate description of the main physics of this non-Hermitian atom-field interaction system.