Abstract Dark states are excited quantum states that decouple from their environment in such a way that they do not emit or absorb external photons. These states are found in a variety of different open quantum systems and can be derived from the collective interactions of individual quantum emitters interacting with one another. One of the simplest model where these states exist is in a pair of dissipatively coupled harmonic oscillators described under the Bose–Hubbard model. When on-site interactions are included, these states can no longer be classified as genuine dark states since dissipation is induced in them. In this paper we investigate how weak anharmonicity contributes to the introduction of dissipation to the dark states through a perturbative treatment of the system from its harmonic oscillator basis to a weakly anharmonic regime. In our results, we show how anharmonicity allows the dark states to couple to dissipative states through the collective modes of the system. We also observe a symmetry-based selection rule for the perturbation. Finally, comparison to fully numerical results shows that relaxation dynamics predicted by the perturbative approach stays sufficiently accurate in the weakly anharmonic regime.
Abstract Dark states are excited quantum states that decouple from their environment in such a way that they do not emit or absorb external photons. These states are found in a variety of different open quantum systems and can be derived from the collective interactions of individual quantum emitters interacting with one another. One of the simplest model where these states exist is in a pair of dissipatively coupled harmonic oscillators described under the Bose–Hubbard model. When on-site interactions are included, these states can no longer be classified as genuine dark states since dissipation is induced in them. In this paper we investigate how weak anharmonicity contributes to the introduction of dissipation to the dark states through a perturbative treatment of the system from its harmonic oscillator basis to a weakly anharmonic regime. In our results, we show how anharmonicity allows the dark states to couple to dissipative states through the collective modes of the system. We also observe a symmetry-based selection rule for the perturbation. Finally, comparison to fully numerical results shows that relaxation dynamics predicted by the perturbative approach stays sufficiently accurate in the weakly anharmonic regime.
Dark states are excited quantum states that decouple from their environment in such a way that they do not emit or absorb external photons. These states are found in a variety of different open quantum systems and can be derived from the collective interactions of individual quantum emitters interacting with one another. One of the simplest model where these states exist is in a pair of dissipatively coupled harmonic oscillators described under the Bose-Hubbard model. When on-site interactions are included, these states can no longer be classified as genuine dark states since dissipation is induced in them. In this paper we study the origin of this dissipation in dark states by using weak anharmonicity as a perturbing factor. In our analysis, we find the first and second order corrections to the wavefunction and apply these corrections to the master equation in order to track the dynamics.
We consider the dynamics of a disordered ensemble of qubits interacting with a single-mode photon field, which is described by an exactly solvable inhomogeneous Dicke model. In particular, we concentrate on the crossover from few-qubit systems to the system of many qubits and analyze how the collective behavior of a coupled qubit-cavity system emerges despite the broadening. We show that quantum interference effects survive in the mesoscopic regime---the dynamics of an entangled Bell state encoded into the qubit subsystem remains highly sensitive to the symmetry of the total wave function. Moreover, relaxation of these states is slowed down due to the formation of collective dark states weakly coupled to light. Dark states also significantly influence the dynamics of the excitations of a photon subsystem by absorbing them into the qubit subsystem and releasing quasiperiodically in time. We argue that the predicted phenomena can be useful in quantum technologies based on superconducting qubits. For instance, they provide tools to deeply probe both collective and quantum properties of such artificial macroscopic systems.
The dissipative quantum dynamics of an anharmonic oscillator coupled to a bath is studied with the purpose of elucidating the differences between the relaxation to a spin bath and to a harmonic bath. Converged results are obtained for the spin bath by the surrogate Hamiltonian approach. This method is based on constructing a system-bath Hamiltonian, with a finite but large number of spin bath modes, that mimics exactly a bath with an infinite number of modes for a finite time interval. Convergence with respect to the number of simultaneous excitations of bath modes can be checked. The results are compared to calculations that include a finite number of harmonic modes carried out by using the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method of Nest and Meyer [J. Chem. Phys. 119, 24 (2003)]. In the weak coupling regime, at zero temperature and for small excitations of the primary system, both methods converge to the Markovian limit. When initially the primary system is significantly excited, the spin bath can saturate restricting the energy acceptance. An interaction term between bath modes that spreads the excitation eliminates the saturation. The loss of phase between two cat states has been analyzed and the results for the spin and harmonic baths are almost identical. For stronger couplings, the dynamics induced by the two types of baths deviate. The accumulation and degree of entanglement between the bath modes have been characterized. Only in the spin bath the dynamics generate entanglement between the bath modes.
Abstract Using a dissipative quantum Rabi model, we study the dynamics of a slow qubit coupled to a fast quantum harmonic oscillator interacting with a bosonic bath from weak to strong and ultra-strong coupling regimes. Solving the quantum Heisenberg equations of motion, perturbative in the internal coupling between qubit and oscillator, we derive functional relationships directly linking the qubit coordinates in the Bloch sphere to oscillator observables. We then perform accurate time-dependent Matrix Product State simulations and compare our results both with the analytical solutions of the Heisenberg equations of motion, and with numerical solutions of a Lindblad master equation, perturbative in the external coupling between oscillator and environment. Indeed, we show that, up to the strong coupling regime, the qubit state accurately fulfils the derived functional relationships. We analyse in detail the case of a qubit starting with generic coordinates on the Bloch sphere of which we evaluate the three components of the Bloch vector through the averages of oscillator observables. Interestingly, a weak to intermediate oscillator coupling to the bath is able to simplify the Bloch vector evaluation since qubit-oscillator relationships are more immediate. Moreover, by monitoring the qubit fidelity with respect to free limit, we find the parameter regime where the combined effect of internal and external couplings is able to hinder the reliable evaluation of the qubit Bloch vector. Finally, in the ultra-strong coupling regime, non-Markovian effects become robust and the dynamics of qubit and oscillator are inextricably entangled making the qubit Bloch vector evaluation difficult. Graphical Abstract
We introduce a functional perturbative method for treating weakly nonlinear systems coupled with a quantum field bath. We demonstrate using this method to obtain the covariance matrix elements and the correlation functions of a quantum anharmonic oscillator interacting with a heat bath. We identify a fluctuation-dissipation relation based on the nonequilibrium dynamics of this nonlinear open quantum system. To establish its connection with dynamical equilibration, we further examine the energy flows between the anharmonic oscillator and the bath field. The vanishing of the net flow is an indication of the existence of an equilibrium state for such an open-system configuration. The results presented here are useful for studying the nonequilibrium physical processes of nonlinear quantum systems such as heat transfer or electron transport.
The interaction between light and matter has captivated physicists for centuries, from early studies of vision and refraction in ancient Greece to the development of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics in the past century. While the response of a single quantum emitter to light is well understood, the radiative properties of an ensemble of closely spaced emitters are far more intricate. Coupling to a shared electromagnetic environment induces coherent and dissipative interactions between emitters, giving rise to a collective response that cannot be captured by treating them independently. In the regime of few excitations, the system hosts delocalized subradiant states, that is, coherent superpositions that are largely decoupled from the electromagnetic field and thus decay at suppressed rates. While this weak coupling makes subradiant states attractive for quantum technologies, it also renders them difficult to manipulate. At higher excitation densities, the intrinsic nonlinearity of emitters and the exponential growth of the Hilbert space make theoretical and numerical descriptions of the system and its dynamics increasingly challenging. This thesis explores two fundamental questions: How can subradiant and dark states be selectively accessed and harnessed for practical applications in quantum technologies? And how can interacting ensembles of quantum emitters be efficiently simulated to uncover their many-body physics? The first part of the thesis develops protocols for controlling and addressing dark states in free-space and waveguide-coupled atomic arrays, demonstrating their utility in quantum storage and the deterministic generation of entangled photonic states. Incorporating atomic motion, we further show that collective subradiant states can enhance cooling in dense atomic arrays, offering new avenues for controlling motional dynamics. In the second part, we introduce cumulant expansions of the equations of motion as a powerful tool to analytically and numerically investigate collective decay in the many-body regime. We first examine the collective decay of fully excited atomic arrays in free space, characterizing the onset and scaling of the superradiant burst across different geometries. In collaboration with experiments on ultracold erbium atoms in optical lattices, we provide the first direct observations of many-body collective effects in free-space ordered arrays, including early-time superradiant bursts, late-time subradiant tails, and the emergence of atomic correlations throughout the dynamics. Finally, we theoretically and numerically explore the transient formation of multi-excitation subradiant states, and demonstrate how the existence of multiple dissipation channels suppresses steady-state superradiance in extended arrays.