arXiv subjects

Kilian Seibold

Publications and source records attributed to Kilian Seibold.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

To $\mathcal{PT}$ or not to $\mathcal{PT}$: Noise-induced escape and nonlinear-damping stabilization in a parity-time dimer

Parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetric systems exhibit long-lived excitations by balancing gain and loss in coupled resonators, driving extensive theoretical interest and diverse experimental realizations. Realistic physical implementations, however, inevitably introduce nonlinearities and noise. This mandates a rigorous reevaluation of their global long-time dynamics. In this work, we show that Hamiltonian Duffing nonlinearity restricts the $\mathcal{PT}$-unbroken phase to a finite, nonattracting region of phase space. Consequently, unavoidable fluctuations drive first-passage escape into runaway trajectories. This renders the linearly $\mathcal{PT}$-unbroken phase a purely transient phenomenon. We then recover global stochastic stability by introducing two-photon loss on the gain oscillator. This nonlinear damping explicitly breaks exact $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry while supplying genuine phase-space attraction, generating a bistable regime where a low-amplitude orbit mimicking the original linear state coexists with a high-amplitude limit cycle. Thus, we establish a revised origin for stability in non-Hermitian experiments: the observed long-time stochastic stability is governed by inherent restoring dissipation rather than the spectral $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry itself.

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arXiv2026

Preparation geometry and slow-sector routing in driven Kerr resonators: an operational spectral theory of Liouvillians

Liouvillian eigenvalues determine decay rates and oscillation frequencies, but not how the corresponding modes are excited, propagated, and detected in a chosen protocol. We develop an operational spectral theory based on matched left and right eigenoperators. Left eigenoperators determine excitation by an input or source; right eigenoperators determine the propagated density deformation and readout overlap; their product is a gauge-invariant modal weight. For bosonic systems, coherent preparations turn left eigenoperators into phase-space excitation maps whose zeros identify mode-selective suppression, while right eigenoperators yield the corresponding Wigner deformations. Resolved slow subspaces define operational coordinates and, when positivity and Markov-admissibility hold, a projected routing generator. In driven Kerr resonators, the framework identifies preparations that suppress a switching mode, separates symmetry-resolved relaxation channels, and reveals bias-induced crossovers in projected multichannel routing while the coherent-preparation partition continues to deform. Preparation geometry and slow-sector propagation thus provide complementary operational information beyond Liouvillian eigenvalues alone.

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arXiv2026

Phase-resolved multichannel quantum escape between limit cycles

Driven-dissipative quantum systems can recover stable dynamical attractors in the semiclassical limit, including coexisting limit cycles. At finite fluctuation strength, this classical coexistence becomes quantum metastability: the corresponding oscillatory states undergo rare fluctuation-induced transitions. We demonstrate phase-resolved quantum escape between two such states in a driven optomechanical resonator. Unlike escape from fixed points, switching between extended attractors occurs across a periodic basin boundary and depends on the phase at which fluctuations approach it. Using quantum-jump trajectories across a controlled quantum-to-classical crossover, we reconstruct the escape geometry directly from switching events. Escape from the small-amplitude cycle proceeds through a single radial corridor and exhibits near-Arrhenius scaling, whereas escape from the large-amplitude cycle involves competing phase-localized corridors with distinct effective activation scales. The resulting curvature in the switching-rate scaling, together with event-conditioned phase distributions, identifies finite-fluctuation multichannel quantum escape between extended attractors.

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arXiv2026

Universal quantum melting of quasiperiodic attractors in driven-dissipative cavities

Nonlinear classical mechanics has established rich phenomena. These include limit tori defined by toroidal attractors supporting quasiperiodic motion with incommensurate frequencies. We study the fate of such structures in open quantum systems using two coupled driven-dissipative Kerr cavities modeled via the Lindblad master equation. Combining Liouvillian spectral theory with the truncated Wigner approximation, we characterize the quantum-to-classical crossover. In the classical limit, two pairs of purely imaginary Liouvillian eigenvalues signal persistent quasiperiodic modes. Quantum fluctuations induce small negative real parts to these eigenvalues, giving rise to finite lifetimes and leading to the quantum melting of the torus. The associated Liouvillian gaps vanish algebraically in the classical limit, indicating a dynamical critical crossover with spontaneous breaking of time-translational symmetry. Quantum trajectory analysis reveals that this melting is driven by fluctuation-induced dephasing. Using a circular-variance-based order parameter, we uncover universal scaling in system size and time. These results establish quantum melting of limit tori as a distinct and robust non-equilibrium critical phenomenon, with clear experimental signatures in trapped ions and superconducting circuits.

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arXiv2026

Generalized master equation for driven quantum oscillators: microscopic origin of nonlinear dissipation and asymmetric resonances

Driven nonlinear quantum oscillators are a central platform for quantum technologies, yet their dissipative dynamics are typically described using Lindblad or Caldeira-Leggett master equations derived under assumptions that exclude nonlinearities and driving. Here, we derive a generalized Caldeira-Leggett master equation for driven nonlinear oscillators by retaining the full nonlinear and time-dependent system dynamics in the construction of the dissipator. For position- and momentum-dependent system-bath coupling, the dissipator itself becomes dynamically dressed, generating nonlinear and drive-dependent dissipative channels beyond conventional fixed-dissipator approaches. This produces nonlinear damping together with dissipation-induced corrections to the effective drive. The resulting dissipative dynamics suppress large-amplitude excitations and reduce phase-space fluctuations. For a driven Kerr oscillator, this leads to the suppression of bistability, asymmetric resonance responses, and strongly modified fluctuation distributions. More broadly, our results establish a microscopic framework in which nonlinear dynamics and driving directly reshape the dissipative sector of driven open quantum systems.

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arXiv2025

Manifestations of flow topology in a quantum driven-dissipative system

In driven-dissipative bosonic systems, the interplay between coherent driving, inter-particle interactions and dissipation leads to a rich variety of non-equilibrium stationary states (NESS). In the semiclassical limit, the flow topology of phase-space dynamics governs the stability and structure of these dynamical phases. Consequently, topological transitions occur when the number of NESS, their chirality, or their connectivity changes, reflecting global reorganization in the system's dynamical phase-space landscape. Here, we study the corresponding topological signatures in a driven-dissipative quantum Kerr oscillator. Employing a Lindblad master equation and quantum trajectory methods, we reveal that quantum dynamics retain key topological features of the underlying classical flows, with clear signatures accessible via quantum state tomography and linear response. In this manner, we predict new phases that are not signaled by Liouvillian gap closing, thereby generalizing the conventional criteria for diagnosing phase transitions. Our findings position phase-space flow topology as a powerful tool to identify and control robust quantum phases, enabling advances in error correction and sensing.

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arXiv2024

Floquet expansion by counting pump photons

Periodically-driven systems engender a rich competition between the time scales of the drives and those of the system, leading to a limited ability to describe the system in full. We present a framework for the description of interacting bosonic driven systems via a Floquet expansion on top of a quantization that "counts" the drive photons, and provide compelling arguments for the superior performance of our method relative to standard Floquet approaches. Crucially, our approach extends beyond the rotating wave approximation and addresses the long-standing issue of mismatch between the quantum Floquet formalism and its classical counterpart. We, furthermore, pinpoint key corrections to the positions of multiphoton resonances, which are commonly used in the calibration and operation of qubit architectures.

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arXiv2021

Quantum dynamics of Dissipative Kerr solitons

Dissipative Kerr solitons arising from parametric gain in ring microresonators are usually described within a classical mean-field framework. Here, we develop a quantum-mechanical model of dissipative Kerr solitons in terms of the truncated Wigner method, which accounts for quantum effects to lowest order. We show that the soliton experiences a finite lifetime due to quantum fluctuations originating from losses. Reading the results in terms of the theory of open quantum systems, allows to estimate the Liouvillian spectrum of the system. It is characterized by a set of eigenvalues with finite imaginary part and vanishing real part in the limit of vanishing quantum fluctuations. This feature shows that dissipative Kerr solitons are a specific class of dissipative time crystals.

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arXiv2020

A dissipative time crystal in an asymmetric non-linear photonic dimer

We investigate the behavior of two coupled non-linear photonic cavities, in presence of inhomogeneous coherent driving and local dissipations. By solving numerically the quantum master equation, either by diagonalizing the Liouvillian superoperator or by using the approximated truncated Wigner approach, we extrapolate the properties of the system in a thermodynamic limit of large photon occupation. When the mean field Gross-Pitaevskii equation predicts a unique parametrically unstable steady-state solution, the open quantum many-body system presents highly non-classical properties and its dynamics exhibits the long lived Josephson-like oscillations typical of dissipative time crystals, as indicated by the presence of purely imaginary eigenvalues in the spectrum of the Liouvillian superoperator in the thermodynamic limit.

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arXiv2019

Preparation and decay of a single quantum of vibration at ambient conditions

A single quantum of excitation of a mechanical oscillator is a textbook example of the principles of quantum physics. Mechanical oscillators, despite their pervasive presence in nature and modern technology, do not generically exist in an excited Fock state. In the past few years, careful isolation of GHz-frequency nano-scale oscillators has allowed experimenters to prepare such states at milli-Kelvin temperatures. These developments illustrate the tension between the basic predictions of quantum mechanics that should apply to all mechanical oscillators existing even at ambient conditions, and the complex experiments in extreme conditions required to observe those predictions. We resolve the tension by creating a single Fock state of a vibration mode of a crystal at room temperature using a technique that can be applied to any Raman-active system. After exciting a bulk diamond with a femtosecond laser pulse and detecting a Stokes-shifted photon, the 40~THz Raman-active internal vibrational mode is prepared in the Fock state $|1>$ with $98.5\%$ probability. The vibrational state is read out by a subsequent pulse, which when subjected to a Hanbury-Brown-Twiss intensity correlation measurement reveals the sub-Poisson number statistics of the vibrational mode. By controlling the delay between the two pulses we are able to witness the decay of the vibrational Fock state over its $3.9$ ps lifetime at room temperature. Our technique is agnostic to specific selection rules, and should thus be applicable to any Raman-active medium, opening a new generic approach to the experimental study of quantum effects related to vibrational degrees of freedom in molecules and solid-state systems.

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arXiv2018

Two-Color Pump-Probe Measurement of Photonic Quantum Correlations Mediated by a Single Phonon

We propose and demonstrate a versatile technique to measure the lifetime of the one-phonon Fock state using two-color pump-probe Raman scattering and spectrally-resolved, time-correlated photon counting. Following pulsed laser excitation, the $n=1$ phonon Fock state is probabilistically prepared by projective measurement of a single Stokes photon. The detection of an anti-Stokes photon generated by a second, time-delayed laser pulse probes the phonon population with sub-picosecond time resolution. We observe strongly non-classical Stokes--anti-Stokes correlations, whose decay maps the single phonon dynamics. Our scheme can be applied to any Raman-active vibrational mode. It can be modified to measure the lifetime of $n \geq 1$ Fock states or the phonon quantum coherences through the preparation and detection of two-mode entangled vibrational states.

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