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Pierre Nataf

Publications and source records attributed to Pierre Nataf.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Variational Monte-Carlo investigation of SU($N$) Heisenberg chains

Motivated by recent experimental progress in the context of ultra-cold multi-color fermionic atoms in optical lattices, we have investigated the properties of the SU($N$) Heisenberg chain with totally antisymmetric irreducible representations, the effective model of Mott phases with $m < N$ particles per site. These models have been studied for arbitrary $N$ and $m$ with non-abelian bosonization [I. Affleck, Nuclear Physics B 265, 409 (1986); 305, 582 (1988)], leading to predictions about the nature of the ground state (gapped or critical) in most but not all cases. Using exact diagonalization and variational Monte-Carlo based on Gutzwiller projected fermionic wave functions, we have been able to verify these predictions for a representative number of cases with $N \leq 10$ and $m \leq N/2$, and we have shown that the opening of a gap is associated to a spontaneous dimerization or trimerization depending on the value of m and N. We have also investigated the marginal cases where abelian bosonization did not lead to any prediction. In these cases, variational Monte-Carlo predicts that the ground state is critical with exponents consistent with conformal field theory.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

Exact Diagonalization of Heisenberg SU(N) models

Building on advanced results on permutations, we show that it is possible to construct, for each irreducible representation of SU(N), an orthonormal basis labelled by the set of {\it standard Young tableaux} in which the matrix of the Heisenberg SU(N) model (the quantum permutation of N-color objects) takes an explicit and extremely simple form. Since the relative dimension of the full Hilbert space to that of the singlet space on $n$ sites increases very fast with N, this formulation allows to extend exact diagonalizations of finite clusters to much larger values of N than accessible so far. Using this method, we show that, on the square lattice, there is long-range color order for SU(5), spontaneous dimerization for SU(8), and evidence in favor of a quantum liquid for SU(10).

quant-ph↗

Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as Probe of Entanglement Entropy: Application to Superradiant Quantum Phase Transitions

Quantum phase transitions are often embodied by the critical behavior of purely quantum quantities such as entanglement or quantum fluctuations. In critical regions, we underline a general scaling relation between the entanglement entropy and one of the most fundamental and simplest measure of the quantum fluctuations, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Then, we show that the latter represents a sensitive probe of superradiant quantum phase transitions in standard models of photons such as the Dicke Hamiltonian, which embodies an ensemble of two-level systems interacting with one quadrature of a single and uniform bosonic field. We derive exact results in the thermodynamic limit and for a finite number N of two-level systems: as a reminiscence of the entanglement properties between light and the two-level systems, the product $ΔxΔp$ diverges at the quantum critical point as $N^{1/6}$. We generalize our results to the double quadrature Dicke model where the two quadratures of the bosonic field are now coupled to two independent sets of two level systems. Our findings, which show that the entanglement properties between light and matter can be accessed through the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, can be tested using Bose-Einstein condensates in optical cavities and circuit quantum electrodynamics

quant-ph↗

Superradiant phase transitions with three-level systems

We determine the phase diagram of $N$ identical three-level systems interacting with a single photonic mode in the thermodynamical limit ($N \to \infty$) by accounting for the so-called diamagnetic term and the inequalities imposed by the Thomas-Reich-Kuhn (TRK) oscillator strength sum rule. The key role of transitions between excited levels and the occurrence of first-order phase transitions is discussed. We show that, in contrast to two-level systems, in the three-level case the TRK inequalities do not always prevent a superradiant phase transition in presence of a diamagnetic term.

quant-ph↗

Double symmetry breaking and 2D quantum phase diagram in spin-boson systems

The quantum ground state properties of two independent chains of spins (two-levels systems) interacting with the same bosonic field are theoretically investigated. Each chain is coupled to a different quadrature of the field, leading to two independent symmetry breakings for increasing values of the two spin-boson interaction constants $Ω_C$ and $Ω_I$. A phase diagram is provided in the plane ($Ω_C$,$Ω_I$) with 4 different phases that can be characterized by the complex bosonic coherence of the ground states and can be manipulated via non-abelian Berry effects. In particular, when $Ω_C$ and $Ω_I$ are both larger than two critical values, the fundamental subspace has a four-fold degeneracy. Possible implementations in superconducting or atomic systems are discussed.

quant-ph↗

Protected quantum computation with multiple resonators in ultrastrong coupling circuit QED

We investigate theoretically the dynamical behavior of a qubit obtained with the two ground eigenstates of an ultrastrong coupling circuit-QED system consisting of a finite number of Josephson fluxonium atoms inductively coupled to a transmission line resonator. We show an universal set of quantum gates by using multiple transmission line resonators (each resonator represents a single qubit). We discuss the intrinsic 'anisotropic' nature of noise sources for fluxonium artificial atoms. Through a master equation treatment with colored noise and manylevel dynamics, we prove that, for a general class of anisotropic noise sources, the coherence time of the qubit and the fidelity of the quantum operations can be dramatically improved in an optimal regime of ultrastrong coupling, where the ground state is an entangled photonic 'cat' state.

quant-ph↗

Is there a no-go theorem for superradiant quantum phase transitions in cavity and circuit QED ?

In cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), the interaction between an atomic transition and the cavity field is measured by the vacuum Rabi frequency $Ω_0$. The analogous term "circuit QED" has been introduced for Josephson junctions, because superconducting circuits behave as artificial atoms coupled to the bosonic field of a resonator. In the regime with $Ω_0$ comparable to the two-level transition frequency, "superradiant" quantum phase transitions for the cavity vacuum have been predicted, e.g. within the Dicke model. Here, we prove that if the time-independent light-matter Hamiltonian is considered, a superradiant quantum critical point is forbidden for electric dipole atomic transitions due to the oscillator strength sum rule. In circuit QED, the capacitive coupling is analogous to the electric dipole one: yet, such no-go property can be circumvented by Cooper pair boxes capacitively coupled to a resonator, due to their peculiar Hilbert space topology and a violation of the corresponding sum rule.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Vacuum degeneracy of a circuit-QED system in the ultrastrong coupling regime

We investigate theoretically the quantum vacuum properties of a chain of $N$ superconducting Josephson atoms inductively coupled to a transmission line resonator. We derive the quantum field Hamiltonian for such circuit-QED system, showing that, due to the type and strength of the interaction, a quantum phase transition can occur with a twice degenerate quantum vacuum above a critical coupling. In the finite-size case, the degeneracy is lifted, with an energy splitting decreasing exponentially with increasing values of $g^2 N^2$, where $g$ is the dimensionless vacuum Rabi coupling per artificial atom. We determine analytically the ultrastrong coupling asymptotic expression of the two degenerate vacua for an arbitrary number of artificial atoms and of resonator modes. In the ultrastrong coupling regime the degeneracy is protected with respect to random fluctuations of the transition energies of the Josephson elements.

quant-ph↗