arXiv subjects

François Impens

Publications and source records attributed to François Impens.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Fast quantum-state transfer in Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chains beyond the noninteracting regime

Shortcuts to adiabaticity have made topological edge-state transfer fast in the single-particle regime, but their extension to interacting systems is obstructed by nonlinear phase accumulation. We show that this obstruction can be removed in Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chains by making the next-nearest-neighbor shortcut hopping phase tunable. In the mean-field regime, this yields an exact nonlinear shortcut: one hopping quadrature keeps the state on the instantaneous dark-state trajectory, while the orthogonal quadrature cancels the interaction-induced self-phase modulation. The resulting protocol is nonperturbative in the mean-field interaction strength. When applied to the full Bose-Hubbard dynamics, the mean-field shortcut remains beneficial but saturates below unit fidelity, exposing genuinely many-body corrections beyond the product-state picture. We then optimize the transfer directly in the many-body Hilbert space and find that complex, phase-tunable next-nearest-neighbor hoppings recover near-perfect fidelity. Our results show that hopping phases are not merely a technical refinement, but a key control resource for fast and high-fidelity transport in interacting topological systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Dynamical Casimir photons from rotation of a nonspherical particle

We consider a non-spherical neutral particle spinning in free space and interacting with the electromagnetic quantum vacuum. When the rotation axis is orthogonal to the particle symmetry axis, the scattered field develops frequency sidebands that induce the parametric emission of dynamical Casimir photon pairs. Under the structural constraint of a maximum tip velocity, the emission rate is maximized for a nearly spherical geometry and is further enhanced near a polaritonic resonance. For realistic material parameters, even these optimized upper bounds remain exceedingly small, setting stringent quantitative limits on free-space rotational dynamical Casimir emission with a single nanoparticle.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Quantum Geometric Limits for Non-Abelian Holonomies

Stokes' theorem turns Abelian Berry phases into curvature fluxes, whereas path ordering precludes such a simple formula for non-Abelian holonomies. We show that a quantitative form of this intuition survives: arbitrary Wilczek--Zee holonomies obey a universal quantum geometric limit~(QGL), in which the holonomy magnitude is bounded by a surface integral of the non-Abelian curvature norm. Recasting holonomic evolution as an effective Stokes--Schrödinger dynamics driven by transported curvature, we identify the QGL as the geometric counterpart of conventional quantum speed limits, with a time-integrated generator norm replaced by a surface-integrated curvature cost. The induced contour--surface variational problem is governed by a non-Abelian Lorentz force, which we address with a brachistochrone ansatz of curvature-weighted geodesics. Applied to an SU(2) tripod dark subspace, near-optimal protocols spontaneously align the transported curvature along a single Lie-algebra direction, effectively taming non-Abelianity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Localization Landscape in Non-Hermitian and Floquet quantum systems

We propose a generalization of the Filoche--Mayboroda localization landscape that extends the theory well beyond the static, elliptic and Hermitian settings while preserving its geometric interpretability. Using the positive operator $H^\dagger H$, we obtain a landscape that predicts localization across non-Hermitian, Floquet, and topological systems without computing eigenstates. Singular-value collapse reveals spectral instabilities and skin effects, the Sambe formulation captures coherent destruction of tunneling, and topological zero modes emerge directly from the landscape. Applications to Hatano--Nelson chains, driven two-level systems, and driven Aubry--André--Harper models confirm quantitative accuracy, establishing a unified predictor for localization in equilibrium and driven quantum matter.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Optimal control over the full counting statistics in a non-adiabatic pump

We introduce a systematic procedure based on optimal control theory to address the full counting statistics of particle transport in a stochastic system. Our approach enhances the performance of a Thouless pump in the non-adiabatic regime by simultaneously optimizing the average pumping rate while minimizing noise. We demonstrate our optimization procedure on a paradigmatic model for the electronic transport through a quantum dot, both in the limit of vanishing Coulomb interaction and in the interacting regime. Our method enables independent control of the moments associated with charge and spin transfer, allowing for the enhancement of spin current with minimal charge current or the independent tuning of spin and charge fluctuations. These results underscore the versatility of our approach, which can be applied to a broad class of stochastic systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Emulating non-Hermitian dynamics in a finite non-dissipative quantum system

We discuss the emulation of non-Hermitian dynamics during a given time window by a low-dimensional quantum system coupled to a finite set of equidistant discrete states acting as an effective continuum. We first emulate the decay of an unstable state, and map the quasi-continuum parameters enabling a precise approximation of the non-Hermitian dynamics. The limitations of this model, including in particular short- and long- time deviations, are extensively discussed. We then consider a driven two-dimensional system, and establish criteria for the non-Hermitian dynamics emulation with a finite quasi-continuum. We quantitatively analyze the signatures of finiteness of the effective continuum, addressing the possible emergence of non-Markovian behavior during the time interval considered. Finally, we investigate the emulation of dissipative dynamics using a finite quasi-continuum with a tailored density of states. We show on the example of a two-level system that such a continuum can reproduce non-Hermitian dynamics more efficiently than the usual equidistant quasi-continuum model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Multichromatic Floquet engineering of quantum dissipation

The monochromatic driving of a quantum system is a successful technique in quantum simulations, well captured by an effective Hamiltonian approach, and with applications in artificial gauge fields and topological engineering. In this letter, we investigate the modeling of multichromatic Floquet driving for the slow degrees of freedom. Within a well-defined range of parameters, we show that the time coarse-grained dynamics of such a driven closed quantum system is encapsulated in an effective Master equation for the time-averaged density matrix, that evolves under the action of an effective Hamiltonian and tunable Lindblad-type dissipation/quantum gain terms. As an application, we emulate the dissipation induced by phase noise and incoherent emission/absorption processes in the bichromatic driving of a two-level system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Shortcut to synchronization in classical and quantum systems

Synchronization is a major concept in nonlinear physics. In a large number of systems, it is observed at long times for a sinusoidal excitation. In this paper, we design a transiently non-sinusoidal driving to reach the synchronization regime more quickly. We exemplify an inverse engineering method to solve this issue on the classical Van der Pol oscillator. This approach cannot be directly transposed to the quantum case as the system is no longer point-like in phase space. We explain how to adapt our method by an iterative procedure to account for the finite-size quantum distribution in phase space. We show that the resulting driving yields a density matrix close to the synchronized one according to the trace distance. Our method provides an example of fast control of a nonlinear quantum system, and raises the question of the quantum speed limit concept in the presence of nonlinearities.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Dynamical Casimir effects with atoms: from the emission of photon pairs to geometric phases

The coupling between a moving ground-state atom and the quantum electromagnetic field is at the origin of several intriguing phenomena ranging from the dynamical Casimir emission of photons to Sagnac-like geometric phase shifts in atom interferometers. Recent progress in this emerging field reveals unprecedented connections between non-trivial aspects of modern physics such as electrodynamic retardation, non-unitary evolution in open quantum systems, geometric phases, non-locality and inertia.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Quantum Vacuum Sagnac Effect

We report on the quantum electrodynamical analogue of a Sagnac phase induced by the fast rotation of a neutral nanoparticle onto atomic waves propagating in its vicinity. The quantum vacuum Sagnac phase is a geometric Berry phase proportional to the angular velocity of rotation. The persistence of a noninertial effect into the inertial frame is also analogous to the Aharonov-Bohm effect. Here, a rotation confined to a restricted domain of space gives rise to an atomic phase even though the interferometer is at rest with respect to an inertial frame. By taking advantage of a plasmon resonance, we show that the magnitude of the induced phase can be close to the sensitivity limit of state of the art interferometers. The quantum vacuum Sagnac atomic phase is a geometric footprint of a dynamical Casimir-like effect

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Fast and robust quantum state transfer in a topological Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain with Next-to-Nearest-Neighbour interactions

We suggest a method for fast and robust quantum-state transfer in a Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain, which exploits the use of next-to-nearest-neighbour (NNN) interactions. The proposed quantum protocol combines a rapid change in one of the topological edge states, induced by a modulation of nearest-neighbour interactions, with a fine tuning of NNN interactions operating a counter-adiabatic driving. The latter cancels nonadiabatic excitations from the edge state multiplicity to the energy bands. We use this shortcut technique for topological pumping of edge states on a single dimerized chain and also through an interface that connects two dimerized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chains with different topological order. We investigate the robustness of this protocol against both uncorrelated and correlated disorder, and demonstrate its strong resilience to the former in comparison to traditional adiabatic protocols for topological chains. We show that introducing spatial correlations in the disorder increases the robustness of the protocol, widening the range of its applicability.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Quantum State Preparation of Hydrogen Atoms by Hyperfine Quenching

We discuss the use of a region of uniform and constant magnetic field in order to implement a two-state atomic polarizer for an H(2S) beam. We have observed that a device with such field configuration is capable of achieving an efficient polarization for a wide range of magnetic field intensities and atomic velocities. In addition, we establish a criterion that must be met to confirm a successful polarization. That is possible due to a specific beating pattern for the Lyman-$α$ radiation expected for the outgoing two-state atomic beam.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2020

Quantum control beyond the adiabatic regime in 2D curved matter-wave guides

The propagation of matter waves in curved geometry is relevant for electrons in nano-wires, solid-state physics structures and atomtronics. Curvature effects are usually addressed within the adiabatic limit and treated via an effective potential acting on the manifold to which the particles are strongly confined. However, the strength of the confinements that can be achieved experimentally are in practice limited, and the adiabatic approximation framework often appears too restrictive for the realistic design of relevant propagation structures. Here, we explore the design of 2D sharply bent wave-guides for the propagation of matter waves beyond the adiabatic regime. The bend design, which enables the connection of guide components rotated by an arbitrary angle and of arbitrary curvatures, rests on an exact inverse-engineering technique. The resolution of the full 2D Schrödinger equation in curved geometry shows that our method yields reflectionless guides with a transverse stability improved by several orders of magnitude when compared to circular guides of similar size.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Matter wave speckle observed in an out-of-equilibrium quantum fluid

We report the results of a direct comparison of a freely expanding turbulent Bose-Einstein condensate and the propagation of an optical speckle pattern. We found remarkably similar statistical properties underlying the spatial propagation of both phenomena. The calculated second-order correlation together with the typical correlation length of each system is used to compare and substantiate our observations. We believe that the close analogy existing in between an expanding turbulent quantum gas and a traveling optical speckle, might burgeon into an exciting new research field investigating disordered quantum matter.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Interference effects due to nuclear motion of the hydrogen molecule

We show that two-particle interferences can be used to probe the nuclear motion in a doubly-excited hydrogen molecule. The dissociation of molecular hydrogen by electron impact involves several decay channels, associated to different molecular rotational states, which produce quantum interferences in the detection of the atomic fragments. Thanks to the correlations between the angular momentum and vibrational states of the molecule, the fragments arising from each dissociation channel carry out a phase-shift which is a signature of the molecule rotation. These phase-shifts, which cannot be observed in a single-atom detection scheme, may be witnessed in realistic experimental conditions in a time-of-flight coincidence measurement. We analyse the interferences arising from the two lowest-energy rotational states of a para-hydrogen molecule. Our result shows the relevance of two-fragments correlations to track the molecular rotation.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2018

Fast quantum control in dissipative systems using dissipationless solutions

We report on a systematic geometric procedure, built up on solutions designed in the absence of dissipation, to mitigate the effects of dissipation in the control of open quantum systems. Our method addresses a standard class of open quantum systems modeled by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians. It provides the analytical expression of the extra magnetic field to be superimposed to the driving field in order to compensate the geometric distortion induced by dissipation, and produces an exact geometric optimization of fast population transfer. Interestingly, it also preserves the robustness properties of protocols originally optimized against noise. Its extension to two interacting spins restores a fidelity close to unity for the fast generation of Bell state in the presence of dissipation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Microscopic dynamical Casimir effect

We consider an atom in its ground state undergoing a non-relativistic oscillation in free space. The interaction with the electromagnetic quantum vacuum leads to two effects to leading order in perturbation theory. When the mechanical frequency is larger than the atomic transition frequency, the dominant effect is the motion-induced transition to an excited state with the emission of a photon carrying the excess energy. We compute the angular distribution of emitted photons and the excitation rate. On the other hand, when the mechanical frequency is smaller than the transition frequency, the leading-order effect is the parametric emission of photon pairs, which constitutes the microscopic counterpart of the dynamical Casimir effect. We discuss the properties of the microscopic dynamical Casimir effect and build a connection with the photon production by an oscillating macroscopic metallic mirror.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Shortcut to adiabaticity in a Stern-Gerlach apparatus

We show that the performances of a Stern-Gerlach apparatus can be improved by using a magnetic field profile for the atomic spin evolution designed through shortcut to adiabaticity technique. Interestingly, it can be made more compact - for atomic beams propagating at a given velocity - and more resilient to a dispersion in velocity, in comparison with the results obtained with a standard uniform rotation of the magnetic field. Our results are obtained using a reverse engineering approach based on Lewis-Riesenfeld invariants. We discuss quantitatively the advantages offered by our configuration in terms of the resources involved and show that it drastically enhances the fidelity of the quantum state transfer achieved by the Stern-Gerlach device.

quant-ph↗