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arXiv:quant-ph/0702003

Quantum phase transitions with Photons and Polaritons

Fernando G. S. L. Brandão, Michael J. Hartmann, Martin Bodo Plenio

Published Jan 31, 2007• 0 citations
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Abstract

We show that a system of polaritons - combined atom and photon excitations - in an array of coupled cavities, under an experimental set-up usually considered in electromagnetically induced transparency, is described by the Bose-Hubbard model. This opens up the possibility of using this system as a quantum simulator, allowing for the observation of quantum phase transitions and for the measurement of local properties, such as single site observables. All the basic building blocks of the proposed setting have already been achieved experimentally, showing the feasibility of its realization in the near future.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0702003

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We show that a system of polaritons - combined atom and photon excitations - in an array of coupled cavities, under an experimental set-up usually considered in electromagnetically induced transparency, is described by the Bose-Hubbard model. This opens up the possibility of using this system as a quantum simulator, allowing for the observation of quantum phase transitions and for the measurement of local properties, such as single site observables. All the basic building blocks of the proposed setting have already been achieved experimentally, showing the feasibility of its realization in the near future.
Recent experimental progress in cavity quantum‐electrodynamics has lead to the fabrication of arrays of coupled cavities, which could be employed to create strongly correlated many‐body systems, when operated in the strong coupling regime. In this work, we show that two models of interest to both, condensed matter physics and quantum information science, namely the Bose‐Hubbard model and the anisotropic Heisenberg model (XYZ‐model), could be realized in such systems with present or near future experimental capabilities.We also discuss the feasibility of realizing a Mott‐insulator of photons in such systems. Crucial for this proposal is the possibility of creating very strong photonic Kerr nonlinearities, several oders of magnitude larger than previously considered feasible. We show how this could be achieved with the setting based on electromagnetically induced transparency and with a new scheme, which is experimentally less demanding than the former.
The experimental observation of quantum phenomena in strongly correlated many particle systems is difficult because of the short length- and timescales involved. Obtaining at the same time detailed control of individual constituents appears even more challenging and thus to date inhibits employing such systems as quantum information processing devices. Substantial progress to overcome these problems has been achieved with cold atoms in optical lattices, where a detailed control of collective properties is feasible. However it is very difficult to address and hence control or measure individual sites [1, 2]. In this work, we demonstrate that polaritons, combined atom and photon excitations, in an array of cavities can form a strongly interacting many body system [3]. This scheme has several advantages: First of all, individual particles can, by construction, be controlled and measured. In contrast to optical lattices, it therefore allows to create inhomogeneous systems where different phases may coexists in adjacent spatial regions. Finally not only an effective Bose- Hubbard Hamiltonian might be created but several different many body systems including spin chains.
We propose a physical system where photons could exhibit strongly correlated effects. We demonstrate how a Mott-insulator phase of atom-photon excitations (polaritons) can arise in an array of individually addressable coupled electromagnetic cavities when each of these cavities is coupled resonantly to a single two-level system (atom, quantum dot, or Cooper pair). This Mott phase is characterized by the same integral number of net polaritonic excitations with photon blockade providing the required repulsion between the excitations in each site. Detuning the atomic and photonic frequencies suppresses this effect and induces a transition to a photonic superfluid. Finally, on resonance the system can straightforwardly simulate the dynamics of many-body spin systems.
Summary form only given. The studies of insulator to superfluid transitions in many body systems and their realization in optical lattices have opened great possibilities for simulating many body systems. It is thus interesting to explore which other systems permit such phases and simulations, especially if the problem of accessibility of the individual sites is not present. Particularly arresting will be to find such phases in a system of photons which, by being non-interacting, are unlikely candidates for the studies of many-body phenomena. Here we show that a Mott phase can arise in an array of coupled high Q electromagnetic cavities between which photons can hop, when each cavity is coupled to a single two level system (atom/quantum dot/Cooper pair). In this phase each atom-cavity system has the same integral number of polaritonic (atomic plus photonic) excitations. It occurs for resonant photonic and atomic frequencies when photon blockade provides an effective repulsion between the excitations in each atom-cavity system. Detuning the atomic and photonic frequencies suppresses this repulsion and induces a transition from the Mott phase to a photonic superfluid. We also show that for zero detuning, the system can simulate the dynamics of a spin chain with arbitrary number of excitations and can be used to implement quantum information processing tasks.
Recent studies of quantum phase transitions in coupled atom-cavity arrays have focused on the similarities between such systems and the Bose-Hubbard model. However, the bipartite nature of the atom-cavity systems that make up the array introduces some differences. In order to examine the unique features of the coupled-cavity system, the behavior of a simple two-site model is studied over a wide range of parameters. Four regions are identified, in which the ground state of the system may be classified as a polaritonic insulator, a photonic superfluid, an atomic insulator, or a polaritonic superfluid.
We present a system for the simulation of quantum phase transitions of collective internal qubit and phononic states with a linear crystal of trapped ions. The laser-ion interaction creates an energy gap in the excitation spectrum, which induces an effective phonon-phonon repulsion and a Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard interaction. This system shows features equivalent to phase transitions of polaritons in coupled cavity arrays. Trapped ions allow for easy tuning of the hopping frequency by adjusting the axial trapping frequency and the phonon-phonon repulsion via laser detuning and intensity. We propose an experimental protocol to access all observables of the system, which allows one to obtain signatures of the quantum phase transitions even with a small number of ions.