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Journal of Nanotechnology and Innovative Materials

Quantum Effects at the Nanoscale: A Comparative Study of Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard and Bose-Hubbard Models

Narmin A. Azizli, Mubariz B. Huseynzada

Published Nov 19, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

As the characteristic dimensions of a physical system shrink to the nanometer scale, its behavior is governed primarily by quantum mechanics rather than by classical laws. In this regime, effects such as barrier tunnelling, energy quantization, and quantum coherence play a central role in how nanoscale devices function. These phenomena are particularly prominent in platforms such as graphene and semiconductor quantum dots, where they have a pronounced impact on transport properties, optical behavior, and overall device performance. In parallel, lattice-based many-body models offer a concise theoretical framework for describing collective quantum states in engineered structures. The present work provides a conceptually oriented survey that links quantum phenomena at the nanoscale to two benchmark lattice Hamiltonians, namely the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard (JCH) and Bose-Hubbard (BH) models. The approach is qualitative and literature-based: results from quantum optics, cold-atom physics, and condensed-matter research are combined to interpret how the parameters of these models relate to experimentally tunable quantities, such as coupling strengths, confinement scales, and interaction energies. The main outcome of the review is threefold. First, tunnelling, graphene, and quantum dots can be viewed as natural settings where effective Hubbard-type descriptions arise. Second, despite describing different degrees of freedom-hybrid light-matter polaritons in the JCH case and interacting bosons in the BH case, both models display analogous phase structures with insulating and superfluid-like regimes. Third, reliable implementation of these phases in nanotechnological devices requires a careful mapping between abstract Hamiltonian parameters and specific design variables. The discussion indicates that JCHand BH-type models should be regarded not only as abstract theoretical constructs but also as practical tools for guiding the design of future quantum technologies. Extensions to driven-dissipative dynamics and topological band structures are identified as promising directions for next-generation quantum simulators and nanoscale sensors. Keywords: quantum tunnelling, graphene, quantum dots, Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model, Bose-Hubbard model, quantum simulators

DOI
10.54414/otdj9129

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We review recent developments regarding the quantum dynamics and many-body physics with light, in superconducting circuits and Josephson analogues, by analogy with atomic physics. We start with quantum impurity models addressing dissipative and driven systems. Both theorists and experimentalists are making efforts towards the characterization of these non-equilibrium quantum systems. We show how Josephson junction systems can implement the equivalent of the Kondo effect with microwave photons. The Kondo effect can be characterized by a renormalized light frequency and a peak in the Rayleigh elastic transmission of a photon. We also address the physics of hybrid systems comprising mesoscopic quantum dot devices coupled with an electromagnetic resonator. Then, we discuss extensions to Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) Networks allowing one to engineer the Jaynes–Cummings lattice and Rabi lattice models through the presence of superconducting qubits in the cavities. This opens the door to novel many-body physics with light out of equilibrium, in relation with the Mott–superfluid transition observed with ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices. Then, we summarize recent theoretical predictions for realizing topological phases with light. Synthetic gauge fields and spin–orbit couplings have been successfully implemented in quantum materials and with ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices — using time-dependent Floquet perturbations periodic in time, for example — as well as in photonic lattice systems. Finally, we discuss the Josephson effect related to Bose–Hubbard models in ladder and two-dimensional geometries, producing phase coherence and Meissner currents. The Bose–Hubbard model is related to the Jaynes–Cummings lattice model in the large detuning limit between light and matter (the superconducting qubits). In the presence of synthetic gauge fields, we show that Meissner currents subsist in an insulating Mott phase.
This dissertation discusses a number of theoretical models of coupled bosonic modes, all closely related to the Bose-Hubbard dimer. In studying these models, we will repeatedly return to two unifying themes: the classical structure underlying quantum dynamics and the impact of weakly coupling a system to an environment. Or, more succinctly, semiclassical methods and open quantum systems. \n \nOur primary motivation for studying models such as the Bose-Hubbard is their relevance to ongoing ultracold atom experiments. We review these experiments, derive the Bose-Hubbard model in their context and briefly discuss its limitations in the first half of Chapter 1. In its second half, we review the theory of open quantum systems and the master equation description of the dissipative Bose-Hubbard model. This opening chapter constitutes a survey of existing results, rather than original work. \n \nIn Chapter 2, we turn to the mean-field limit of the Bose-Hubbard model. After reviewing the striking localization phenomena predicted by the mean-field (and confirmed by experiment), we identify the first corrections to this picture for the dimer. The most interesting of these is the dynamical tunneling between the self-trapping points of the mean-field. We derive an accurate analytical expression for the tunneling rate using semiclassical techniques. \n \nWe continue studying the dynamics near the self-trapping fixed points in Chapter 3, focusing on corrections to the mean-field that arise at larger nonlinearities and on shorter time scales than dynamical tunneling. We study the impact of dissipation on coherence and entanglement near the fixed points, and explain it in terms of the structure of the classical phase space. \n \nThe last chapter of the dissertation is also devoted to a dissipative bosonic dimer model, but one arising in a very different physical context. Abandoning optical lattices, we consider the problem of formulating a quantum model of operation of the cylindrical anode magnetron, a vacuum tube crossed-field microwave amplifier. We derive an effective dissipative dimer model and study its relationship to the classical description. Our dimer model is a first step towards the analysis of solid-state analogs of such devices.
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Experiments with ultracold atoms in optical lattice have become a versatile testing ground to study diverse quantum many-body Hamiltonians. A single-band Bose-Hubbard (BH) Hamiltonian was first proposed to describe these systems in 1998 and its associated quantum phase-transition was subsequently observed in 2002. Over the years, there has been a rapid progress in experimental realizations of more complex lattice geometries, leading to more exotic BH Hamiltonians with contributions from excited bands, and modified tunneling and interaction energies. There has also been interesting theoretical insights and experimental studies on “un- conventional” Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices and predictions of rich orbital physics in higher bands. In this thesis, I present our results on several multi- band BH models and emergent quantum phenomena. In particular, I study optical lattices with two local minima per unit cell and show that the low energy states of a multi-band BH Hamiltonian with only pairwise interactions is equivalent to an effec- tive single-band Hamiltonian with strong three-body interactions. I also propose a second method to create three-body interactions in ultracold gases of bosonic atoms in a optical lattice. In this case, this is achieved by a careful cancellation of two contributions in the pair-wise interaction between the atoms, one proportional to the zero-energy scattering length and a second proportional to the effective range. I subsequently study the physics of Bose-Einstein condensation in the second band of a double-well 2D lattice and show that the collision aided decay rate of the con- densate to the ground band is smaller than the tunneling rate between neighboring unit cells. Finally, I propose a numerical method using the discrete variable repre- sentation for constructing real-valued Wannier functions localized in a unit cell for optical lattices. The developed numerical method is general and can be applied to a wide array of optical lattice geometries in one, two or three dimensions.
An exciting development in the field of correlated systems is the possibility of realizing two-dimensional (2D) phases of quantum matter. For a system of bosons, an example of strong correlations manifesting themselves in a 2D environment is provided by helium adsorbed on graphene. We construct the effective Bose-Hubbard model for this system which involves hard-core bosons $(U\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{\infty})$, repulsive nearest-neighbor (V>0)(V>0)(V>0) and small attractive $({V}^{\ensuremath{'}}<0)$ next-nearest-neighbor interactions. The mapping onto the Bose-Hubbard model is accomplished by a variety of many-body techniques which take into account the strong He-He correlations on the scale of the graphene lattice spacing. Unlike the case of dilute ultracold atoms where interactions are effectively pointlike, the detailed microscopic form of the short-range electrostatic and long-range dispersion interactions in the helium-graphene system is crucial for the emergent Bose-Hubbard description. The result places the ground state of the first layer of 4He^{4}\mathrm{He}4He adsorbed on graphene deep in the commensurate solid phase with 1/31/31/3 of the sites on the dual triangular lattice occupied. Because the parameters of the effective Bose-Hubbard model are very sensitive to the exact lattice structure, this opens up an avenue to tune quantum phase transitions in this solid-state system.
The Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model describes a network of interacting atom-cavity systems. In this model the photons can hop between cavities effecting a tunneling interaction, and the Jaynes-Cummings interaction gives rise to an onsite interaction. This model forms a bridge connection between condensed matter physics and quantum optics. Here we review the physics underpinning this model, properties of Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard systems, the requirements on systems for realizing this model, and some of the progress to date.