arXiv subjects

Germán J. de Valcárcel

Publications and source records attributed to Germán J. de Valcárcel.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Langevin Theory of Non-Markovian Quantum Dynamics: Application to Delayed Coherent Feedback and the Laser Linewidth

Phase-space methods are powerful tools for the treatment of Markovian open quantum systems: they map the reduced dynamics of a system S, in interaction with an environment E, exactly onto Langevin equations for c-number stochastic variables, as opposed to Heisenberg-Langevin equations for operators. Langevin equations provide analytical insight in key regimes and excel at handling strong nonlinearities and couplings, where other methods often falter. Extending phase-space methods to non-Markovian dynamics, however, has remained a long-standing challenge. Here we address this gap by applying phase-space representations to the full S+E system; integrating out the environmental degrees of freedom then yields a general Langevin framework for S that incorporates both deterministic and stochastic contributions from E. Normally ordered representations, such as the Glauber-Sudarshan P representation and its positive variant due to Drummond and Gardiner, lead to Langevin equations in which (i) non-Markovian effects emerge exclusively in the deterministic terms, via a memory kernel, and (ii) noise contributions vanish when E is initially in the vacuum state. To demonstrate the power of this framework, we address the paradigmatic problem of delayed coherent feedback, in which the system is driven by its own past state, and study its impact on the laser linewidth: we recover the narrowing observed well above threshold and predict an enhanced narrowing just above it. Crucially, the number of stochastic variables scales linearly with the system size, making the framework suitable for problems ranging from a few degrees of freedom to genuinely many-body systems. This opens the way to the systematic study of non-Markovian driven-dissipative quantum systems using the same analytical and numerical tools that have long made phase-space methods so successful in the Markovian regime.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

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.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

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.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Phase Tetrastability in Parametric Oscillation

The periodic modulation of an oscillator's frequency can lead to so-called parametric oscillations at half the driving frequency, which display bistability between two states whose phases differ by π. Such phase-locking bistability is at the root of the extraordinary importance of parametric oscillation (and amplification) both in fundamental and applied scenarios. Here we put forward a universal method for exciting tetrastability in parametrically-driven systems, which consists in modulating the amplitude of the parametric drive in such a way that its sign alternates periodically in time. This way, multistability can emerge between four states whose phases differ by a multiple of π/2. We prove theoretically the validity of the method, both analytically and numerically, and demonstrate it experimentally in an optical oscillator. The method could be relevant to the fields of pattern formation, (quantum) information processing and simulation, metrology and sensing.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2017

General linearized theory of quantum fluctuations around arbitrary limit cycles

The theory of Gaussian quantum fluctuations around classical steady states in nonlinear quantum-optical systems (also known as standard linearization) is a cornerstone for the analysis of such systems. Its simplicity, together with its accuracy far from critical points or situations where the nonlinearity reaches the strong coupling regime, has turned it into a widespread technique, which is the first method of choice in most works on the subject. However, such a technique finds strong practical and conceptual complications when one tries to apply it to situations in which the classical long-time solution is time dependent, a most prominent example being spontaneous limit-cycle formation. Here we introduce a linearization scheme adapted to such situations, using the driven Van der Pol oscillator as a testbed for the method, which allows us to compare it with full numerical simulations. On a conceptual level, the scheme relies on the connection between the emergence of limit cycles and the spontaneous breaking of the symmetry under temporal translations. On the practical side, the method keeps the simplicity and linear scaling with the size of the problem (number of modes) characteristic of standard linearization, making it applicable to large (many-body) systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Noncritical generation of nonclassical frequency combs via spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking

Synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators (SPOPOs) are optical cavities containing a nonlinear crystal capable of down-converting a frequency comb to lower frequencies. These have received a lot of attention lately, because their intrinsic multimode nature makes them compact sources of quantum correlated light with promising applications in modern quantum information technologies. In this work we show that SPOPOs are also capable of accessing the challenging but interesting regime where spontaneous symmetry breaking plays a crucial role in the quantum properties of the emitted light, difficult to access with any other nonlinear optical cavity. Apart from opening the possibility of studying experimentally this elusive regime of dissipative phase transitions, our predictions will have a practical impact, since we show that spontaneous symmetry breaking provides a specific spatiotemporal mode with perfect squeezing for any value of the system parameters, turning SPOPOs into robust sources of highly nonclassical light above threshold.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Active locking and entanglement in type II optical parametric oscillators

Type II optical parametric oscillators are amongst the highest-quality sources of quantum-correlated light. In particular, when pumped above threshold, such devices generate a pair of bright orthogonally-polarized beams with strong continuous-variable entanglement. However, these sources are of limited practical use, because the entangled beams emerge with different frequencies and a diffusing phase-difference. It has been proven that the use of an internal wave-plate coupling the modes with orthogonal polarization is capable of locking the frequencies of the emerging beams to half the pump frequency, as well as reducing the phase-difference diffusion, at the expense of reducing the entanglement levels. In this work we characterize theoretically an alternative locking mechanism: the injection of a laser at half the pump frequency. Apart from being less invasive, this method should allow for an easier real-time experimental control. We show that such an injection is capable of generating the desired phase locking between the emerging beams, while still allowing for large levels of entanglement. Moreover, we find an additional region of the parameter space (at relatively large injections) where a mode with well defined polarization is in a highly squeezed vacuum state.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

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.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Pattern formation in a complex Swift-Hohenberg equation with phase bistability

We study pattern formation in a complex Swift Hohenberg equation with phase-sensitive (parametric) gain. Such an equation serves as a universal order parameter equation describing the onset of spontaneous oscillations in extended systems submitted to a kind of forcing dubbed rocking when the instability is towards long wavelengths. Applications include two-level lasers and photorefractive oscillators. Under rocking, the original continuous phase symmetry of the system is replaced by a discrete one, so that phase bistability emerges. This leads to the spontaneous formation of phase-locked spatial structures like phase domains and dark-ring (phase-) cavity solitons. Stability of the homogeneous solutions is studied and numerical simulations are made covering all the dynamical regimes of the model, which turn out to be very rich. Formal derivations of the rocked complex Swift-Hohenberg equation, using multiple scale techniques, are given for the two-level laser and the photorefractive oscillator.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2016

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.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

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↗

arXiv2013

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↗

arXiv2013

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↗

arXiv2013

Impact of anisotropy on the noncritical squeezing properties of two-transverse-mode optical parametric oscillators

In a series of articles we studied the quantum properties of a degenerate optical parametric oscillator tuned to the first family of transverse modes at the subharmonic. We found that, for a cavity having rotational symmetry respect to the optical axis, a TEM$_{10}$ mode with an arbitrary orientation in the transverse plane is emitted above threshold. We proved then that quantum noise induces a random rotation of this bright TEM$_{10}$ mode in the transverse plane, while the mode orthogonal to it, the so-called dark mode, has perfect quadrature squeezing irrespective of the distance to threshold (noncritical squeezing). This result was linked to the spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking which occurs when the bright mode is generated, and here we analyze how the squeezing of the dark mode is degraded when the cavity is not perfectly symmetric. We will show that large levels of squeezing are still attainable for reasonable values of this anisotropy, with the advantage that the orientation of the bright and dark modes is basically fixed, a very attractive situation from the experimental point of view.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

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.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Quantum coherent control of highly multipartite continuous-variable entangled states by tailoring parametric interactions

The generation of continuous-variable multipartite entangled states is important for several protocols of quantum information processing and communication, such as one-way quantum computation or controlled dense coding. In this article we theoretically show that multimode optical parametric oscillators can produce a great variety of such states by an appropriate control of the parametric interaction, what we accomplish by tailoring either the spatio-temporal shape of the pump, or the geometry of the nonlinear medium. Specific examples involving currently available optical parametric oscillators are given, hence showing that our ideas are within reach of present technology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

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.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

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.

quant-ph↗