arXiv subjects

Cristiano Ciuti

Publications and source records attributed to Cristiano Ciuti.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Permanent Directional Heat Currents in Lattices of Optomechanical Resonators

We study the phonon dynamics in lattices of optomechanical resonators where the mutually coupled photonic modes are coherently driven and the mechanical resonators are uncoupled and connected to independent thermal baths. We present a general procedure to obtain the effective Lindblad dynamics of the phononic modes for an arbitrary lattice geometry, where the light modes play the role of an effective reservoir that mediates the phonon nonequilibrium dynamics. We show how to stabilize stationary states exhibiting directional heat currents over arbitrary distance, despite the absence of thermal gradient and of direct coupling between the mechanical resonators.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Dark vertical conductance of cavity-embedded semiconductor heterostructures

We present a linear-response nonlocal theory of the electronic conductance along the vertical (growth) direction of a semiconductor heterostructure embedded in a single-mode electromagnetic resonator in the absence of illumination. Our method readily applies to the general class of n-doped semiconductors with parabolic dispersion. The conductance depends on the ground-state properties and virtual collective polaritonic excitations that have been determined via a bosonic treatment in the dipole gauge. We show that, depending on the system parameters, the cavity vacuum effects can enhance or reduce significantly the dark vertical conductance with respect to the bare heterostructure.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Dynamical properties of dissipative XYZ Heisenberg lattices

We study dynamical properties of dissipative XYZ Heisenberg lattices where anisotropic spin-spin coupling competes with local incoherent spin flip processes. In particular, we explore a region of the parameter space where dissipative magnetic phase transitions for the steady state have been recently predicted by mean-field theories and exact numerical methods. We investigate the asymptotic decay rate towards the steady state both in 1D (up to the thermodynamical limit) and in finite-size 2D lattices, showing that critical dynamics does not occur in 1D, but it can emerge in 2D. We also analyze the behavior of individual homodyne quantum trajectories, which well reveal the nature of the transition.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Variational neural network ansatz for steady states in open quantum systems

We present a general variational approach to determine the steady state of open quantum lattice systems via a neural network approach. The steady-state density matrix of the lattice system is constructed via a purified neural network ansatz in an extended Hilbert space with ancillary degrees of freedom. The variational minimization of cost functions associated to the master equation can be performed using a Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. As a first application and proof-of-principle, we apply the method to the dissipative quantum transverse Ising model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Quantum critical regime in a quadratically-driven nonlinear photonic lattice

We study an array of coupled optical cavities in presence of two-photon driving and dissipation. The system displays a critical behavior similar to that of a quantum Ising model at finite temperature. Using the corner-space renormalization method, we compute the steady-state properties of finite lattices of varying size, both in one- and two-dimensions. From a finite-size scaling of the average of the photon number parity, we highlight the emergence of a critical point in regimes of small dissipations, belonging to the quantum Ising universality class. For increasing photon loss rates, a departure from this universal behavior signals the onset of a quantum critical regime, where classical fluctuations induced by losses compete with long-range quantum correlations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Optimal stochastic unraveling of disordered open quantum systems: application to driven-dissipative photonic lattices

We propose an efficient numerical method to compute configuration averages of observables in disordered open quantum systems whose dynamics can be unraveled via stochastic trajectories. We prove that the optimal sampling of trajectories and disorder configurations is simply achieved by considering one random disorder configuration for each individual trajectory. As a first application, we exploit the present method to the study the role of disorder on the physics of the driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard model in two different regimes: (i) for strong interactions, we explore the dissipative physics of fermionized bosons in disordered one-dimensional chains; (ii) for weak interactions, we investigate the role of on-site inhomogeneities on a first-order dissipative phase transition in a two-dimensional square lattice.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Phase diagram of the dissipative quantum Ising model on a square lattice

The competition between interactions and dissipative processes in a quantum many-body system can drive phase transitions of different order. Exploiting a combination of cluster methods and quantum trajectories, we show how the systematic inclusion of (classical and quantum) nonlocal correlations at increasing distances is crucial to determine the structure of the phase diagram, as well as the nature of the transitions in strongly interacting spin systems. In practice, we focus on the paradigmatic dissipative quantum Ising model: in contrast to the non-dissipative case, its phase diagram is still a matter of debate in the literature. When dissipation acts along the interaction direction, we predict important quantitative modifications of the position of the first-order transition boundary. In the case of incoherent relaxation in the field direction, our approach confirms the presence of a second-order transition, while does not support the possible existence of multicritical points. Potentially, these results can be tested in up-to date quantum simulators of Rydberg atoms.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2018

Magneto-transport controlled by Landau polariton states

Hybrid excitations, called polaritons, emerge in systems with strong light-matter coupling. Usually, they dominate the linear and nonlinear optical properties with applications in quantum optics. Here, we show the crucial role of the electronic component of polaritons in the magneto-transport of a cavity-embedded 2D electron gas in the ultrastrong coupling regime. We show that the linear dc resistivity is significantly modified by the coupling to the cavity even without external irradiation. Our observations confirm recent predictions of vacuum-induced modification of the resistivity. Furthermore, photo-assisted transport in presence of a weak irradiation field at sub-THz frequencies highlights the different roles of localized and delocalized states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Vacuum-dressed cavity magnetotransport of a 2D electron gas

We present a theory predicting how the linear magnetotransport of a two-dimensional electron gas is modified by a passive electromagnetic cavity resonator where no real photons are injected nor created. For a cavity photon mode with in-plane linear polarization, the dc bulk magnetoresistivity of the 2D electron gas is anisotropic. In the regime of high filling factors of the Landau levels, the envelope of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations is profoundly modified and the resistivity can be increased or reduced depending on the system parameters. In the limit of low magnetic fields, the resistivity along the cavity-mode polarization direction is enhanced in the ultrastrong light-matter coupling regime. Our work shows the crucial role of virtual polariton excitations in controlling the dc charge transport properties of cavity-embedded systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Spectral theory of Liouvillians for dissipative phase transitions

A state of an open quantum system is described by a density matrix, whose dynamics is governed by a Liouvillian superoperator. Within a general framework, we explore fundamental properties of both first-order dissipative phase transitions and second-order dissipative phase transitions associated with a symmetry breaking. In the critical region, we determine the general form of the steady-state density matrix and of the Liouvillian eigenmatrix whose eigenvalue defines the Liouvillian spectral gap. We illustrate our exact results by studying some paradigmatic quantum optical models exhibiting critical behavior.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Critical slowing down in driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard lattices

We theoretically explore the dynamical properties of a first-order dissipative phase transition in coherently driven Bose-Hubbard systems, describing, e.g., lattices of coupled nonlinear optical cavities. Via stochastic trajectory calculations based on the truncated Wigner approximation, we investigate the dynamical behavior as a function of system size for 1D and 2D square lattices in the regime where mean-field theory predicts nonlinear bistability. We show that a critical slowing down emerges for increasing number of sites in 2D square lattices, while it is absent in 1D arrays. We characterize the peculiar properties of the collective phases in the critical region.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Linked cluster expansions for open quantum systems on a lattice

We propose a generalization of the linked-cluster expansions to study driven-dissipative quantum lattice models, directly accessing the thermodynamic limit of the system. Our method leads to the evaluation of the desired extensive property onto small connected clusters of a given size and topology. We first test this approach on the isotropic spin-1/2 Hamiltonian in two dimensions, where each spin is coupled to an independent environment that induces incoherent spin flips. Then we apply it to the study of an anisotropic model displaying a dissipative phase transition from a magnetically ordered to a disordered phase. By means of a Padé analysis on the series expansions for the average magnetization, we provide a viable route to locate the phase transition and to extrapolate the critical exponent for the magnetic susceptibility.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Phase diagram of incoherently driven strongly correlated photonic lattices

We explore theoretically the nonequilibrium photonic phases of an array of coupled cavities in presence of incoherent driving and dissipation. In particular, we consider a Hubbard model system where each site is a Kerr nonlinear resonator coupled to a two-level emitter, which is pumped incoherently. Within a Gutzwiller mean-field approach, we determine the steady-state phase diagram of such a system. We find that, at a critical value of the inter-cavity photon hopping rate, a second-order nonequilibrium phase transition associated with the spontaneous breaking of the $U(1)$ symmetry occurs. The transition from an incompressible Mott-like photon fluid to a coherent delocalized phase is driven by commensurability effects and not by the competition between photon hopping and optical nonlinearity. The essence of the mean-field predictions is corroborated by finite-size simulations obtained with matrix product operators and corner-space renormalization methods.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2017

Stabilizing strongly correlated photon fluids with non-Markovian reservoirs

We introduce a novel frequency-dependent incoherent pump scheme with a square-shaped spectrum as a way to study strongly correlated photons in arrays of coupled nonlinear resonators. This scheme can be implemented via a reservoir of population-inverted two-level emitters with a broad distribution of transition frequencies. Our proposal is predicted to stabilize a non-equilibrium steady state sharing important features with a zero-temperature equilibrium state with a tunable chemical potential. We confirm the efficiency of our proposal for the Bose-Hubbard model by computing numerically the steady state for finite system sizes: first, we predict the occurrence of a sequence of incompressible Mott-Insulator-like states with arbitrary integer densities presenting strong robustness against tunneling and losses. Secondly, for stronger tunneling amplitudes or non-integer densities, the system enters a coherent regime analogous to the superfluid state. In addition to an overall agreement with the zero-temperature equilibrium state, exotic non-equilibrium processes leading to a finite entropy generation are pointed out in specific regions of parameter space. The equilibrium ground state is shown to be recovered by adding frequency-dependent losses. The promise of this improved scheme in view of quantum simulation of the zero temperature many-body physics is highlighted.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Resilience of the quantum Rabi model in circuit QED

In circuit quantum electrodynamics (circuit QED), an artificial "circuit atom" can couple to a quantized microwave radiation much stronger than its real atomic counterpart. The celebrated quantum Rabi model describes the simplest interaction of a two-level system with a single-mode boson field. When the coupling is large enough, the bare multilevel structure of a realistic circuit atom cannot be ignored even if the circuit is strongly anharmonic. We explored this situation theoretically for flux (fluxonium) and charge (Cooper pair box) type multi-level circuits tuned to their respective flux/charge degeneracy points. We identified which spectral features of the quantum Rabi model survive and which are renormalized for large coupling. Despite significant renormalization of the low-energy spectrum in the fluxonium case, the key quantum Rabi feature -- nearly-degenerate vacuum consisting of an atomic state entangled with a multi-photon field -- appears in both types of circuits when the coupling is sufficiently large. Like in the quantum Rabi model, for very large couplings the entanglement spectrum is dominated by only two, nearly equal eigenvalues, in spite of the fact that a large number of bare atomic states are actually involved in the atom-resonator ground state. We interpret the emergence of the two-fold degeneracy of the vacuum of both circuits as an environmental suppression of flux/charge tunneling due to their dressing by virtual low-/high-impedance photons in the resonator. For flux tunneling, the dressing is nothing else than the shunting of a Josephson atom with a large capacitance of the resonator. Suppression of charge tunneling is a manifestation of the dynamical Coulomb blockade of transport in tunnel junctions connected to resistive leads.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Homodyne versus photon-counting quantum trajectories for dissipative Kerr resonators with two-photon driving

We investigate two different kinds of quantum trajectories for a nonlinear photon resonator subject to two-photon pumping, a configuration recently studied for the generation of photonic Schroedinger cat states. In the absence of feedback control and in the strong-driving limit, the steady-state density matrix is a statistical mixture of two states with equal weight. While along a single photon-counting trajectory the systems intermittently switches between an odd and an even cat state, we show that upon homodyne detection the situation is different. Indeed, homodyne quantum trajectories reveal switches between coherent states of opposite phase.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

On the robustness of strongly correlated multi-photon states in frustrated driven-dissipative cavity lattices

We present a theoretical study on the robustness of multi-photon states in a frustrated lattice of coupled nonlinear optical cavities, which are described by a driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard model. In particular, we focus here on a Lieb lattice with two elementary cells and periodic boundary conditions. Due to the geometric frustration of the lattice, the non-equilibrium steady state can exhibit dark sites with low photon density and strong correlations, ascribable to the population of multi-photon modes. We explore the sensitivity of such strong correlations on the random inhomogeneity of the lattice parameters. We show that the correlations are more sensitive to the inhomogeneity of the cavity frequencies than to the random fluctuations of the hopping strength.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Critical dynamical properties of a first-order dissipative phase transition

We theoretically investigate the critical properties of a single driven-dissipative nonlinear photon mode. In a well-defined thermodynamical limit of large excitation numbers, the exact quantum solution describes a first-order phase transition in the regime where semiclassical theory predicts optical bistability. We study the behavior of the complex spectral gap associated with the Liouvillian superoperator of the corresponding master equation. We show that in this limit the Liouvillian gap vanishes exponentially and that the bimodality of the photon Wigner function disappears. The connection between the considered thermodynamical limit of large photon numbers for the single-mode cavity and the thermodynamical limit of many cavities for a driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard system is discussed.

quant-ph↗