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Eugenio Roldán

Publications and source records attributed to Eugenio Roldán.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Solitons in a photonic nonlinear quantum walk: lessons from the continuum

We analyse a nonlinear QW model which can be experimentally implemented using the components of the electric field on an optical nonlinear Kerr medium, which translates into a rotation in the coin operator, with an angle which depends (in a nonlinear fashion) on the state of the walker. This simple dependence makes it easy to consider the space-time continuum limit of the evolution equation, which takes the form of a nonlinear Dirac equation. The analysis of this continuum limit allows us, under some approximations, to gain some insight into the nature of soliton structures, which is illustrated by our numerical calculations. These solitons are stable structures whose trajectories can be modulated by choosing the appropriate initial conditions. We have also studied the stability of solitons when they are subject to an additional phase that simulates an external electric field, and also explored if they are formed in higher dimensional spaces.

quant-ph↗

Spatial localization and pattern formation in discrete optomechanical cavities and arrays

We investigate theoretically the generation of nonlinear dissipative structures in optomechanical (OM) systems containing discrete arrays of mechanical resonators. We consider both hybrid models in which the optical system is a continuous multimode field, as it would happen in an OM cavity containing an array of micro-mirrors, and also fully discrete models in which each mechanical resonator interacts with a single optical mode, making contact with Ludwig & Marquardt [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 073603 (2013)]. Also, we study the connections between both types of models and continuous OM models. While all three types of models merge naturally in the limit of a large number of densely distributed mechanical resonators, we show that the spatial localization and the pattern formation found in continuous OM models can be still observed for a small number of mechanical elements, even in the presence of finite-size effects, which we discuss. This opens new venues for experimental approaches to the subject.

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Two-particle coined-quantum walk with long-range interaction

We present and study a two-particle quantum walk on the line in which the two particles interact via a long-range Coulombian-like interaction. We obtain the spectrum of the system as well as study the type of molecules that form, attending to the bosonic or fermionic nature of the walkers. The usual loss of distinction between attractive and repulsive forces does not entirely apply in our model because of the long-range of the interaction.

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Light polarization measurements in tests of macrorealism

According to the world view of macrorealism, the properties of a given system exist prior to and independent of measurement, which is incompatible with quantum mechanics. Leggett and Garg put forward a practical criterion capable of identifying violations of macrorealism, and so far experiments performed on microscopic and mesoscopic systems have always ruled out in favor of quantum mechanics. However, a macrorealist can always assign the cause of such violations to the perturbation that measurements effect on such small systems, and hence a definitive test would require using non-invasive measurements, preferably on macroscopic objects, where such measurements seem more plausible. However, the generation of truly macroscopic quantum superposition states capable of violating macrorealism remains a big challenge. In this work we propose a setup that makes use of measurements on the polarization of light, a property which has been extensively manipulated both in classical and quantum contexts, hence establishing the perfect link between the microscopic and macroscopic worlds. In particular, we use Leggett-Garg inequalities and the criterion of no-signaling in time to study the macrorealistic character of light polarization for different kinds of measurements, in particular with different degrees of coarse-graining. Our proposal is non-invasive for coherent input states by construction. We show for states with well defined photon number in two orthogonal polarization modes, that there always exists a way of making the measurement sufficiently coarse-grained so that a violation of macrorealism becomes arbitrarily small, while sufficiently sharp measurements can always lead to a significant violation.

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Quantum walk on a cylinder

We consider the 2D alternate quantum walk on a cylinder. We concentrate on the study of the motion along the open dimension, in the spirit of looking at the closed coordinate as a small or "hidden" extra dimension. If one starts from localized initial conditions on the lattice, the dynamics of the quantum walk that is obtained after tracing out the small dimension shows the contribution of several components, which can be understood from the study of the dispersion relations for this problem. In fact, these components originate from the contribution of the possible values of the quasi-momentum in the closed dimension. In the continuous space-time limit, the different components manifest as a set of Dirac equations, with each quasi-momentum providing the value of the corresponding mass. We briefly discuss the possible link of these ideas to the simulation of high energy physical theories that include extra dimensions. Finally, entanglement between the coin and spatial degrees of freedom is studied, showing that the entanglement entropy clearly overcomes the value reached with only one spatial dimension.

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Electric quantum walks in two dimensions

We study electric quantum walks in two dimensions considering Grover, Alternate, Hadamard, and DFT quantum walks. In the Grover walk the behaviour under an electric field is easy to summarize: when the field direction coincides with the x or y axes, it produces a transient trapping of the probability distribution along the direction of the field, while when it is directed along the diagonals, a perfect 2D trapping is frustrated. The analysis of the alternate walk helps to understand the behaviour of the Grover walk as both walks are partially equivalent; in particular, it helps to understand the role played by the existence of conical intersections in the dispersion relations, as we show that when these are removed a perfect 2D trapping can occur for suitable directions of the field. We complete our study with the electric DFT and Hadamard walks in 2D, showing that the latter can exhibit perfect 2D trapping.

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Dissipative structures in optomechanical cavities

Motivated by the increasing interest in the properties of multimode optomechanical devices, here we study a system in which a driven mode of a large-area optical cavity is despersively coupled to a deformable mechanical element. Two different models naturally appear in such scenario, for which we predict the formation of periodic patterns, localized structures (cavity solitons), and domain walls, among other complex nonlinear phenomena. Further, we propose a realistic design based on intracavity membranes where our models can be studied experimentally. Apart from its relevance to the field of nonlinear optics, the results put forward here are a necessary step towards understanding the quantum properties of optomechanical systems in the multimode regime of both the optical and mechanical degrees of freedom.

physics.optics↗

Regularized linearization for quantum nonlinear optical cavities: Application to Degenerate Optical Parametric Oscillators

Nonlinear optical cavities are crucial both in classical and quantum optics; in particular, nowadays optical parametric oscillators are one of the most versatile and tunable sources of coherent light, as well as the sources of the highest quality quantum-correlated light in the continuous variable regime. Being nonlinear systems, they can be driven through critical points in which a solution ceases to exist in favour of a new one, and it is close to these points where quantum correlations are the strongest. The simplest description of such systems consists in writing the quantum fields as the classical part plus some quantum fluctuations, linearizing then the dynamical equations with respect to the latter; however, such an approach breaks down close to critical points, where it provides unphysical predictions such as infinite photon numbers. On the other hand, techniques going beyond the simple linear description become too complicated especially regarding the evaluation of two-time correlators, which are of major importance to compute observables outside the cavity. In this article we provide a regularized linear description of nonlinear cavities, that is, a linearization procedure yielding physical results, taking the degenerate optical parametric oscillator as the guiding example. The method, which we call self-consistent linearization, is shown to be equivalent to a general Gaussian ansatz for the state of the system, and we compare its predictions with those obtained with available exact (or quasi-exact) methods.

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Understanding and controlling N-dimensional quantum walks via dispersion relations. Application to the 2D and 3D Grover walks: Diabolical points and more

The discrete quantum walk in N dimensions is analyzed from the perspective of its dispersion relations. This allows understanding known properties, as well as designing new ones when spatially extended initial conditions are considered. This is done by deriving wave equations in the continuum, which are generically of the Schrödinger type, and allow devising interesting behaviors, such as ballistic propagation without deformation, or the generation of almost flat probability distributions, what is corroborated numerically. There are however special points where the energy surfaces display intersections and, near them, the dynamics is entirely different. Applications to the two- and three-dimensional Grover walks are presented.

quant-ph↗

N-dimensional alternate coined quantum walks from a dispersion relation perspective

We propose an alternative definition of an N-dimensional coined quantum walk by generalizing a recent proposal [Di Franco et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 080502 (2011)]. This N-dimensional alternate quantum walk, AQW_N, in contrast with the standard definition of the N-dimensional quantum walk, QW_N, requires only a coin-qubit. We discuss the quantum diffusion properties of AQW_2 and AQW_3 by analyzing their dispersion relations that reveal, in particular, the existence of diabolical points. This allows us to highlight interesting similarities with other well known physical phenomena. We also demonstrate that AQW_3 generates genuine multipartite entanglement. Finally we discuss the implementability of AQW_N.

quant-ph↗

A semiclassical optics derivation of Einstein's rate equations

We provide a semiclassical optics derivation of Einstein's rate equations (ERE) for a two-level system illuminated by a broadband light field, setting a limit for their validity that depends on the light spectral properties (namely on the height and width of its spectrum). Starting from the optical Bloch equations for individual atoms, the ensemble averaged atomic inversion is shown to follow ERE under two concurrent hypotheses: (i) the decorrelation of the inversion at a given time from the field at later times, and (ii) a Markov approximation owed to the short correlation time of the light field. The latter is then relaxed, leading to effective Bloch equations for the ensemble average in which the atomic polarization decay rate is increased by an amount equal to the width of the light spectrum, what allows its adiabatic elimination for large enough spectral width. Finally the use of a phase-diffusion model of light allows us to check all the results and hypotheses through numerical simulations of the corresponding stochastic differential equations.

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Tailoring discrete quantum walk dynamics via extended initial conditions: Towards homogeneous probability distributions

We study the evolution of initially extended distributions in the coined quantum walk on the line by analyzing the dispersion relation of the process and its associated wave equations. This allows us, in particular, to devise an initially extended condition leading to a uniform probability distribution whose width increases linearly with time, with increasing homogeneity.

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Noncritical quadrature squeezing through spontaneous polarization symmetry breaking

We discuss the possibility of generating noncritical quadrature squeezing by spontaneous polarization symmetry breaking. We consider first type-II frequency-degenerate optical parametric oscillators, but discard them for a number of reasons. Then we propose a four-wave mixing cavity in which the polarization of the output mode is always linear but has an arbitrary orientation. We show that in such a cavity complete noise suppression in a quadrature of the output field occurs, irrespective of the parameter values.

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Generating highly squeezed Hybrid Laguerre-Gauss modes in large-Fresnel-number Degenerate Optical Parametric Oscillators

We theoretically describe the quantum properties of a large Fresnel number degenerate optical parametric oscillator with spherical mirrors that is pumped by a Gaussian beam. The resonator is tuned so that the resonance frequency of a given transverse mode family coincides with the down-converted frequency. After demonstrating that only the lower orbital angular momentum (OAM) Laguerre-Gauss modes are amplified above threshold, we focus on the quantum properties of the rest of (classically empty) modes. We find that combinations of opposite OAM (Hybrid Laguerre-Gauss modes) can exhibit arbitrary large quadrature squeezing for the lower OAM non amplified modes.

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Squeezing via spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking in a four-wave mixing cavity

We predict the generation of noncritically squeezed light through the spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking occurring in a Kerr cavity. The model considers a $χ^{(3)}$ cavity that is pumped by two Gaussian beams of frequencies $ω_{1}$ and $ω_{2}$. The cavity configuration is such that two signal modes of equal frequency $ω_{\mathrm{s}}=(ω_{1}% +ω_{2})/2$ are generated, these signal fields being first order Laguerre--Gauss modes. In this system a spontaneous breaking of the rotational symmetry occurs as the signal field corresponds to a Hermite--Gauss TEM mode. This symmetry breaking leads to the perfect and non--critical (i.e., non dependent on the parameter values) squeezing of the angular momentum of the output TEM mode, which is another TEM mode spatially orthogonal to that in which bright emission occurs.

quant-ph↗