arXiv subjects

Gianluca Rastelli

Publications and source records attributed to Gianluca Rastelli.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Squeezed Phonon Lasing via Floquet-Controlled Solid-State Defects

We propose a general Floquet-engineered scheme for squeezed phonon lasing that enables a continuous crossover from conventional phase-diffused phonon lasing to phase-locked squeezed phonon lasing. Our system consists of two pairs of periodically driven spins--a primary pair and an ancilla pair--coupled to a single mechanical mode. While the underlying mechanism applies generally to such spin-mechanical systems, we focus on a solid-state implementation based on color centers embedded in a circular hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) membrane. We show that the primary spins provide mechanical gain, whereas the ancilla pair engineer a dissipative channel for the Bogoliubov mode, thereby stabilizing robust steady-state squeezed phonon lasing. We support these findings through a comprehensive steady-state analysis of the lasing threshold, mechanical occupation, emission spectrum, and second-order correlations. Remarkably, we demonstrate that Floquet engineering intrinsically induces phase locking while enabling controllable quadrature squeezing, providing a simple and versatile route toward squeezed lasing in solid-state spin-mechanical platforms.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Doppler-induced tunable and shape-preserving frequency conversion of microwave wave packets

In superconducting electronics, the ability to control the frequency of microwave wave packets is crucial for several applications, such as the operation of superconducting quantum processors and the readout of superconducting sensors. We introduce a new approach to microwave frequency conversion that harnesses a dynamic Doppler effect induced by a propagating front that separates regions of different phase velocities. Employing a high-kinetic-inductance superconducting transmission line in a travelling-wave geometry, we were able to implement frequency shifts of microwave wave packets at 500$\,$MHz and 4$\,$GHz of up to 3.7$\,$% while fully preserving their temporal shape. In contrast to conventional methods based on frequency-mixing, our Doppler-induced frequency-conversion method avoids spurious mixing products, is continuously tunable by a quasi-dc current amplitude, and allows to imprint arbitrary patterns on the instantaneous frequency profile of temporally long wave packets. By engineering transmission lines that allow for larger phase-velocity changes and/or by cascading multiple Doppler-induced frequency conversions, an unlimited amount of frequency shifting is in principle attainable. These features demonstrate the potential of our frequency-conversion technique as a promising tool for advanced control of microwave wave packets for different quantum applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

From coherent to fermionized microwave photons in a superconducting transmission line

We investigate superconducting transmission lines as a novel platform for realizing a quantum fluid of microwave photons in a propagating geometry. We predict that the strong photon-photon interactions provided by the intrinsic nonlinearity of Josephson junctions are sufficient to enter a regime of strongly interacting photons for realistic parameters. A suitable tapering of the transmission line parameters allows for the adiabatic conversion of an incident coherent field into a Tonks-Girardeau gas of fermionized photons close to its ground state. Signatures of the strong correlations are anticipated in the correlation properties of the transmitted light.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2025

Dispersive detection of single microwave photons with quantum dots

Within a circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture, we theoretically investigate the detection of a single propagating microwave photon traveling through a resonant microwave cavity dispersively interacting with a double quantum dot tunnel-coupled to a lead. Under suitable conditions, a single photon in the cavity can induce a measurable change in the electronic occupation of the charge states. We develop a quantum cascade approach that enables a time-resolved description of a single-photon wave packet impinging on the cavity. We make use of a simple model of charge detector to assess the efficiency of our photo-detection configuration as functions of key parameters such as coupling strength, tunneling rate, temperature, and photon resonance linewidth. We finally highlight a measurement-induced backaction effect on the cavity mode associated with the dispersive, non-absorptive detection process.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Entangled Photon-Pair Emission in Waveguide Circuit QED from a Cooper Pair Splitter

As a waveguide circuit QED architecture, we investigate theoretically the single-photon pair emission of a Cooper pair splitter composed of two double quantum dots, each coupled to a microwave transmission line. We find that this system can generate frequency-entangled photon pairs in the left and right transmission lines, specifically a superposition of two photon wave packets at different frequencies. The frequency entanglement of the two photons arises from the particle-hole coherent superposition (i.e., Andreev bound states) involving the delocalized entangled spin singlet. We also estimate a lower bound for the efficiency of entangled photon-pair generation, accounting for the presence of nonradiative processes such as phonon emissions. Our proposal is realistic and achievable with state-of-the-art techniques in quantum microwave engineering with electostatically defined semiconducting quantum dots.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Topological classification of driven-dissipative nonlinear systems

In topology, one averages over local geometrical details to reveal robust global features. This approach proves crucial for understanding quantized bulk transport and exotic boundary effects of linear wave propagation in (meta-)materials. Moving beyond linear Hamiltonian systems, the study of topology in physics strives to characterize open (non-Hermitian) and interacting systems. Here, we establish a framework for the topological classification of driven-dissipative nonlinear systems. Specifically, we define a graph index for the Floquet semiclassical equations of motion describing such systems. The graph index builds upon topological vector analysis theory and combines knowledge of the particle-hole nature of fluctuations around each out-of-equilibrium stationary state. To test this approach, we divulge the topological invariants arising in a micro-electromechanical nonlinear resonator subject to forcing and a time-modulated potential. Our framework classifies the complete phase diagram of the system and reveals the topological origin of driven-dissipative phase transitions, as well as that of under- to over-damped responses. Furthermore, we predict topological phase transitions between symmetry-broken phases that pertain to population inversion transitions. This rich manifesting phenomenology reveals the pervasive link between topology and nonlinear dynamics, with broad implications for all fields of science.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Ground state topology of a four-terminal superconducting double quantum dot

In recent years, various classes of systems were proposed to realize topological states of matter. One of them are multiterminal Josephson junctions where topological Andreev bound states are constructed in the synthetic space of superconducting phases. Crucially, the topology in these systems results in a quantized transconductance between two of its terminals comparable to the quantum Hall effect. In this work, we study a double quantum dot with four superconducting terminals and show that it has an experimentally accessible topological regime in which the non-trivial topology can be measured. We also include Coulomb repulsion between electrons which is usually present in experiments and show how the topological region can be maximized in parameter space.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Engineering the speedup of quantum tunneling in Josephson systems via dissipation

We theoretically investigate the escape rate occurring via quantum tunneling in a system affected by tailored dissipation. Specifically, we study the environmental assisted quantum tunneling of the superconducting phase in a current-biased Josephson junction. We consider Ohmic resistors inducing dissipation both in the phase and in the charge of the quantum circuit. We find that the charge dissipation leads to an enhancement of the quantum escape rate. This effect appears already in the low Ohmic regime and also occurs in the presence of phase dissipation that favors localization. Inserting realistic circuit parameters, we address the question of its experimental observability and discuss suitable parameter spaces for the observation of the enhanced rate.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Quantum-correlated photons generated by nonlocal electron transport

Since the realization of high-quality microwave cavities coupled to quantum dots, one can envisage the possibility to investigate the coherent interaction of light and matter in semiconductor quantum devices. Here we study a parallel double quantum dot device operating as single-electron splitter interferometer, with each dot coupled to a local photon cavity. We explore how quantum correlation and entanglement between the two separated cavities are generated by the coherent transport of a single electron passing simultaneously through the two different dots. We calculate the covariance of the cavity occupations by use of a diagrammatic perturbative expansion based on Keldysh Green's functions to the fourth order in the dot-cavity interaction strength, taking into account vertex diagrams. In this way, we demonstrate the creation of entanglement by showing that the classical Cauchy-Schwarz inequality is violated if the energy levels of the two dots are almost degenerate. For large level detunings or a single dot coupled to two cavities, we show that the inequality is not violated.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Optical-force-mediated coupling between levitated nanospheres can go ultrastrong

We theoretically investigate the effect of optical-force-mediated interactions onto the quantum dynamics of a pair of dielectric nanospheres optically trapped in two neighboring optical tweezers. Thanks to the interference between the tweezer beams and the elastically scattered light by the other nanosphere, the effective inter nanosphere coupling can reach the ultrastrong coupling regime. Experimentally accessible signatures of the entangled nature of the quantum ground state are highlighted, including entanglement witnesses based on position/momentum correlation functions and a sizable dynamical Casimir excitation upon a fast modulation of the tweezer's properties.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Ground-state quantum geometry in superconductor-quantum dot chains

Multiterminal Josephson junctions constitute engineered topological systems in arbitrary synthetic dimensions defined by the superconducting phases. Microwave spectroscopy enables the measurement of the quantum geometric tensor, a fundamental quantity describing both the quantum geometry and the topology of the emergent Andreev bound states in a unified manner. In this work we propose an experimentally feasible multiterminal setup of $N$ quantum dots connected to $N+1$ superconducting leads to study nontrivial topology in terms of the many-body Chern number of the ground state. Moreover, we generalize the microwave spectroscopy scheme to the multiband case and show that the elements of the quantum geometric tensor of the noninteracting ground state can be experimentally accessed from the measurable oscillator strengths at low temperature.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Exponential speedup of incoherent tunneling via dissipation

We study the escape rate of a particle in a metastable potential in presence of a dissipative bath coupled to the momentum of the particle. Using the semiclassical bounce technique, we find that this rate is exponentially enhanced. In particular, the influence of momentum dissipation depends on the slope of the barrier that the particle is tunneling through. We investigate also the influence of dissipative baths coupled to the position, and to the momentum of the particle, respectively. In this case the rate exhibits a non-monotonic behavior as a function of the dissipative coupling strengths. Remarkably, even in presence of position dissipation, momentum dissipation can enhance exponentially the escape rate in a large range of the parameter space. The influence of the momentum dissipation is also witnessed by the substantial increase of the average energy loss during inelastic (environment-assisted) tunneling.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Geometrical Rabi oscillations and Landau-Zener transitions in non-Abelian systems

Topological phases of matter became a new standard to classify quantum systems in many cases, yet key quantities like the quantum geometric tensor providing local information about topological properties are still experimentally hard to access. In non-Abelian systems this accessibility to geometric properties can be even more restrictive due to the degeneracy of the states. We propose universal protocols to determine quantum geometric properties in non-Abelian systems. First, we show that for a weak resonant driving of the local parameters the coherent Rabi oscillations are related to the quantum geometric tensor. Second, we derive that in a Landau-Zener like transition the final probability of an avoided energy crossing is proportional to elements of the non-Abelian quantum geometric tensor. Our schemes suggest a way to prepare eigenstates of the quantum metric, a task that is difficult otherwise in a degenerate subspace.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Persistent response in ultra-strongly driven mechanical membrane resonators

We study experimentally and theoretically the phenomenon of persistent response in ultra-strongly driven membrane resonators. This term denotes the development of a vibrating state with nearly constant amplitude over an extreme wide frequency range. We reveal the underlying mechanism of the persistent response state by directly imaging the vibrational state using advanced optical interferometry. We argue that the persistent state is related to the nonlinear interaction between higher order flexural modes and higher-order overtones of the driven mode. Finally, we propose a stability diagram for the different vibrational states that the membrane can adopt.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Microwave Spectroscopy Reveals the Quantum Geometric Tensor of Topological Josephson Matter

Quantization effects due to topological invariants such as Chern numbers have become very relevant in many systems, yet key quantities such as the quantum geometric tensor providing local information about quantum states remain experimentally difficult to access. Recently, it has been shown that multiterminal Josephson junctions constitute an ideal platform to synthesize topological systems in a controlled manner. We theoretically study properties of Andreev states in topological Josephson matter and demonstrate that the quantum geometric tensor of Andreev states can be extracted by synthetically polarized microwaves. The oscillator strength of the absorption rates provides direct evidence of topological quantum properties of the Andreev states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Interplay Between Yu-Shiba-Rusinov States and Multiple Andreev Reflections

Motivated by recent scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on single magnetic impurities on superconducting surfaces, we present here a comprehensive theoretical study of the interplay between Yu-Shiba-Rusinov bound states and (multiple) Andreev reflections. Our theory is based on a combination of an Anderson model with broken spin degeneracy and nonequilibrium Green's function techniques that allows us to describe the electronic transport through a magnetic impurity coupled to superconducting leads for arbitrary junction transparency. Using this combination we are able to elucidate the different tunneling processes that give a significant contribution to the subgap transport. In particular, we predict the occurrence of a large variety of Andreev reflections mediated by Yu-Shiba-Rusinov bound states that clearly differ from the standard Andreev processes in non-magnetic systems. Moreover, we provide concrete guidelines on how to experimentally identify the subgap features originating from these tunneling events. Overall, our work provides new insight into the role of the spin degree of freedom in Andreev transport physics.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Effects of a dissipative coupling to the momentum of a particle in a double well potential

Double well potentials offer the possibility of coherent state preparation and therefore constitute important building blocks in the analysis of quantum information and quantum engineering devices. Here we present a study of the coherent tunneling in a parabolic double well potential in presence of different dissipative interactions. Specifically, we investigate the effects of an environmental coupling to the momentum and/or to the position of a particle in the potential. Using the semiclassical approximation to calculate instanton paths in Euclidean time, we find that momentum dissipation enhances the coherent tunnel splitting. In presence of both types of dissipation, the momentum dissipation shifts the critical coupling strength of the dissipative phase transition induced by the position dissipation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Non-classical current noise and light emission of an ac-driven tunnel junction

The non-symmetrized current noise is crucial for the analysis of light emission in nanojunctions. The latter represent non-classical photon emitters whose description requires a full quantum approach. It was found experimentally that light emission can occur with a photon energy exceeding the applied dc voltage, which intuitively should be forbidden due to the Pauli principle. This overbias light emission cannot be described by the single-electron physics, but can be explained by two-electron or even three-electron processes, correlated by a local resonant mode in analogy to the well-known dynamical Coulomb blockade (DCB). Here, we obtain the non-symmetrized noise for junctions driven by an arbitrarily shaped periodic voltage. We find that when the junction is driven, the overbias light emission exhibits intriguingly different features compared to the dc case. In addition to kinks at multiples of the bias voltage, side kinks appear at integer multiples of the ac driving frequency. Our work generalizes the DCB theory of light emission to driven tunnel junctions and opens the avenue for engineered quantum light sources, which can be tuned purely by applied voltages.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗