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Quasiprobability distribution in the quantum Rabi model

Michal Jančo

Published Jan 1, 2026• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In this work, we study the quantum Rabi model, a simple two-state system coupled to a harmonic oscillator. With increasing interaction strength between the subsystems, the model undergoes a quantum phase transition (QPT), a phenomenon explained by a change in the shape of the potential in the semiclassical limit. We numerically cal- culate the Wigner quasiprobability distribution of the oscillator subsystem for various eigenstates and coupling strengths, demonstrate its nontrivial structural change as the QPT is crossed, and compare it with the Husimi Q function. Finally, we employ the Wigner negativity to quantify the nonclassicality of the states and observe that the neg- ativity is enhanced near the QPT. This work can contribute to the understanding of the Wigner distribution and Wigner negativity in a system relevant to quantum technology and computing.

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In this work, we study the quantum Rabi model, a simple two-state system coupled to a harmonic oscillator. With increasing interaction strength between the subsystems, the model undergoes a quantum phase transition (QPT), a phenomenon explained by a change in the shape of the potential in the semiclassical limit. We numerically cal- culate the Wigner quasiprobability distribution of the oscillator subsystem for various eigenstates and coupling strengths, demonstrate its nontrivial structural change as the QPT is crossed, and compare it with the Husimi Q function. Finally, we employ the Wigner negativity to quantify the nonclassicality of the states and observe that the neg- ativity is enhanced near the QPT. This work can contribute to the understanding of the Wigner distribution and Wigner negativity in a system relevant to quantum technology and computing.
The Rabi model, a two-level atom coupled to a harmonic oscillator, can undergo a second-order quantum phase transition (QPT) [M.-J. Hwang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 180404 (2015)]. Here we show that the Rabi QPT accompanies critical behavior in the higher-energy excited states, i.e., the excited-state QPT (ESQPT). We derive analytic expressions for the semiclassical density of states, which show a logarithmic divergence at a critical energy eigenvalue in the broken symmetry (superradiant) phase. Moreover, we find that the logarithmic singularities in the density of states lead to singularities in the relevant observables in the system such as photon number and atomic polarization. We corroborate our analytical semiclassical prediction of the ESQPT in the Rabi model with its numerically exact quantum mechanical solution.
Starting with the quasi-Bell states of the qubit-oscillator system, we obtain time evolution of the density matrix under the adiabatic approximation. The composite density matrix leads to, via partial tracing of the qubit degree of freedom, the reduced density matrix of the oscillator that is utilized to obtain the quasi-probability distributions such as Glauber-Sudarshan P function, Wigner W function and Husimi Q function. The negativity of the Wigner function acts as a measure of the nonclassicality of the state. The negativity becomes particularly relevant in understanding a comparison between the Wigner entropy with the Wehrl entropy, which are based on the W function and Q function, respectively.
The familiar Rabi model, comprising a two-level system coupled to a quantum harmonic oscillator, continues to produce rich and surprising physics when the coupling strength becomes comparable to the individual subsystem frequencies. We construct approximate solutions for the eigenstates and energies in the regime in which the oscillator frequency is small compared to that of the two-level system and the coupling strength matches or exceeds the oscillator frequency. The resulting oscillator dynamics closely resembles that of a particle tunneling in a classical double-well potential. Relating our calculation to an earlier semiclassical approximation in which coupling to the two-level system creates an effective potential for the oscillator, we examine the extent to which this picture is valid. We find that, for certain parameter regimes, the interpretation of the oscillator dynamics in terms of tunneling holds to a good approximation despite the fundamentally entangled nature of the joint system. We assess the prospects for observation of oscillator tunneling in the context of nano- or micromechanical experiments and find that it should be possible if suitably high coupling strengths can be engineered.
We investigate the quantum phase transition (QPT) and quench dynamics in the anisotropic Rabi model when the ratio of the qubit transition frequency to the oscillator frequency approaches infinity. Based on the Schrieffer-Wolff transformation, we find an anti-Hermitian operator that maps the original Hamiltonian into a one-dimensional oscillator Hamiltonian within the spin-down subspace. We analytically derive the eigenenergy and eigenstate of the normal and superradiant phases and demonstrate that the system undergoes a second-order quantum phase transition at a critical border. The critical border is a straight line in a two-dimensional parameter space which essentially extends the dimensionality of QPT in the Rabi model. By combining the Kibble-Zurek mechanism and the adiabatic dynamics method, we find that the residual energy vanishes as the quench time tends to zero, which is a sharp contrast to the universal scaling where the residual energy diverges in the same limit.
In the ultrastrong-coupling regime, the quantum Rabi model can exhibit quantum phase transition (QPT) when the ratio of the qubit transition frequency to the frequency of the cavity field approaches infinity. However, it is challenging to control the QPT in few-body systems because of the limited coupling strength and the A2{A}^{2}A2 term. Here, we propose a practical scheme to manipulate the QPT of quantum Rabi model in the strong-coupling regime. By applying a periodic frequency modulation to the two-level system in a quantum Rabi model in the strong-coupling regime, an anisotropic quantum Rabi model with ultrastrong and tunable coupling strengths for rotating and counterrotating terms is obtained. The ground state and excitation energy of this model, in terms of the modulation parameters, are studied. We find that the QPT of the quantum Rabi model can be observed in the strong-coupling regime and externally controlled by the modulation.
Measurement incompatibility and the negativity of quasiprobability distribution functions are well-known non-classical aspects of quantum systems. Both of them are widely accepted resources in quantum information processing. We acquaint an approach to establish a connection between the negativity of the Wigner function, a well-known phase-space quasiprobability distribution, of finite-dimensional Hermitian operators and incompatibility among them. We calculate the negativity of the Wigner distribution function for noisy eigenprojectors of qubit Pauli operators as a function of the noise and observe that the amount of negativity increases with the decrease in noise vis-à-vis the increase in the incompatibility. It becomes maximum for the set of maximally unbiased operators. Our results, although qualitatively, provide a direct comparison between relative degrees of incompatibility among a set of operators for different amounts of noise. We generalize our treatment for higher dimensional qudits for specific finite-dimensional Gell-Mann operators to observe that with an increase in the dimension of the operators, the negativity of their Wigner distribution, and hence incompatibility, decreases.