arXiv subjects

Vincenzo Savona

Publications and source records attributed to Vincenzo Savona.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Simulating frustrated antiferromagnets with quadratically driven QED cavities

We propose a class of quantum simulators for antiferromagnetic spin systems, based on coupled photonic cavities in presence of two-photon driving and dissipation. By modeling the coupling between the different cavities through a hopping term with negative amplitude, we solve numerically the quantum master equation governing the dynamics of the open system and determine its non-equilibrium steady state. Under suitable conditions, the steady state can be described in terms of the degenerate ground states of an antiferromagnetic Ising model. When the geometry of the cavity array is incommensurate with the antiferromagnetic coupling, the steady state presents properties which bear full analogy with those typical of the spin liquid phases arising in frustrated magnets.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Variational Quantum Monte Carlo Method with a Neural-Network Ansatz for Open Quantum Systems

The possibility to simulate the properties of many-body open quantum systems with a large number of degrees of freedom is the premise to the solution of several outstanding problems in quantum science and quantum information. The challenge posed by this task lies in the complexity of the density matrix increasing exponentially with the system size. Here, we develop a variational method to efficiently simulate the non-equilibrium steady state of Markovian open quantum systems based on variational Monte Carlo and on a neural network representation of the density matrix. Thanks to the stochastic reconfiguration scheme, the application of the variational principle is translated into the actual integration of the quantum master equation. We test the effectiveness of the method by modeling the two-dimensional dissipative XYZ spin model on a lattice.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Quantum critical regime in a quadratically-driven nonlinear photonic lattice

We study an array of coupled optical cavities in presence of two-photon driving and dissipation. The system displays a critical behavior similar to that of a quantum Ising model at finite temperature. Using the corner-space renormalization method, we compute the steady-state properties of finite lattices of varying size, both in one- and two-dimensions. From a finite-size scaling of the average of the photon number parity, we highlight the emergence of a critical point in regimes of small dissipations, belonging to the quantum Ising universality class. For increasing photon loss rates, a departure from this universal behavior signals the onset of a quantum critical regime, where classical fluctuations induced by losses compete with long-range quantum correlations.

quant-ph↗

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.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

A driven-dissipative quantum Monte Carlo method for open quantum systems

We develop a real-time Full Configuration Interaction Quantum Monte Carlo approach for the modeling of driven-dissipative open quantum systems. The method enables stochastic sampling of the Liouville-von-Neumann time evolution of the density matrix, thanks to a massively parallel algorithm, thus providing estimates of observables on the non-equilibrium steady state. We present the underlying theory, and introduce initiator technique and importance sampling to reduce the statistical error. Finally, we demonstrate the efficiency of our approach by applying it to the driven- dissipative two-dimensional XYZ spin model on lattice.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

A Nonequilibrium quantum phase transition in strongly coupled spin chains

We study spin transport in a boundary driven XXZ spin chain. Driving at the chain boundaries is modeled by two additional spin chains prepared in oppositely polarized states. Emergent behavior, both in the transient dynamics and in the long-time quasi-steady state, is demonstrated. Time-dependent matrix-product-state simulations of the system-bath state show ballistic spin transport below the Heisenberg isotropic point. Indications of exponentially vanishing transport are found above the Heisenberg point for low energy initial states while the current decays asymptotically as a power law for high energy states. Precisely at the critical point, non-ballistic transport is observed. Finally, it is found that the sensitivity of the quasi-stationary state on the initial state of the chain is a good witness of the different transport phases.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Nonequilibrium photonic transport and phase transition in an array of optical cavities

We characterize photonic transport in a boundary driven array of nonlinear optical cavities. We find that the output field suddenly drops when the chain length is increased beyond a threshold. After this threshold a highly chaotic and unstable regime emerges, which marks the onset of a super-diffusive photonic transport. We show the scaling of the threshold with pump intensity and nonlinearity. Finally, we address the competition of disorder and nonlinearity presenting a diffusive-insulator phase transition.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Emergent transport in a many-body open system driven by interacting quantum baths

We analyze an open many-body system that is strongly coupled at its boundaries to interacting quantum baths. We show that the two-body interactions inside the baths induce emergent phenomena in the spin transport. The system and baths are modeled as independent spin chains resulting in a global non-homogeneous XXZ model. The evolution of the system-bath state is simulated using matrix-product-states methods. We present two phase transitions induced by bath interactions. For weak bath interactions we observe ballistic and insulating phases. However, for strong bath interactions a diffusive phase emerges with a distinct power-law decay of the time-dependent spin current $Q\propto t^{-α}$. Furthermore, we investigate long-lasting current oscillations arising from the non-Markovian dynamics in the homogeneous case, and find a sharp change in their frequency scaling coinciding with the triple point of the phase diagram.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in a quadratically-driven nonlinear photonic lattice

We investigate the occurrence of a phase transition, characterized by the spontaneous breaking of a discrete symmetry, in a driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard lattice in presence of two-photon coherent driving. The driving term does not lift the original $U(1)$ symmetry completely and a discrete $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry is left. When driving the bottom of the Bose-Hubbard band, a mean-field analysis of the steady state reveals a second-order transition from a symmetric phase to a quasi-coherent state with a finite expectation value of the Bose field. For larger driving frequency, the phase diagram shows a third region, where both phases are stable and the transition becomes of first order.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Ultra-wide-band slow light in photonic crystal coupled-cavity waveguides

Slow light propagation in structured materials is a highly promising approach for realizing on-chip integrated photonic devices based on enhanced optical nonlinearities. One of the most successful research avenues consists in engineering the band dispersion of light-guiding photonic crystal (PC) structures. The primary goal of such devices is to achieve slow-light operation over the largest possible bandwidth, with large group index, minimal index dispersion, and constant transmission spectrum. Here, we report on the experimental demonstration of to date record high GBP in silicon-based coupled-cavity waveguides (CCWs) operating at telecom wavelengths. Our results rely on novel CCW designs, optimized using a genetic algorithm, and refined nanofabrication processes.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Efficient continuous-wave nonlinear frequency conversion in high-Q Gallium Nitride photonic crystal cavities on Silicon

We report on nonlinear frequency conversion from the telecom range via second harmonic generation (SHG) and third harmonic generation (THG) in suspended gallium nitride slab photonic crystal (PhC) cavities on silicon, under continuous-wave resonant excitation. Optimized two-dimensional PhC cavities with augmented far-field coupling have been characterized with quality factors as high as 4.4$\times10^{4}$, approaching the computed theoretical values. The strong enhancement in light confinement has enabled efficient SHG, achieving normalized conversion efficiency of 2.4$\times10^{-3}$ $W^{-1}$, as well as simultaneous THG. SHG emission power of up to 0.74 nW has been detected without saturation. The results herein validate the suitability of gallium nitride for integrated nonlinear optical processing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Laser from a Manybody Correlated Medium

We consider a non-equilibrium system of interacting emitters described by the XXZ model, whose excitonic transitions are spatially and spectrally coupled to a single mode cavity. We demonstrate that the output radiation field is sensitive to an interplay between the hopping ($J$) and the interactions ($U$) of the excitons. Moderate values of the short-ranged interaction are shown to induce laser with maximal output at the Heisenberg point ($U=J$). In the laser regime, charge-charge correlations emerge and they are shown to strongly depend on the interaction-hopping ratio. In particular, the system shows charge-density correlations below the Heisenberg point and ferromagnetic correlations beyond the Heisenberg point. This contrast to the equilibrium behavior of the XXZ chain occurs since the laser explores highly excited states of the emitters.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

A compact, integrated silicon device for the generation of spectrally-filtered, pair-correlated photons

The third-order non-linearity of silicon gives rise to a spontaneous four-wave mixing process in which correlated photon pairs are generated. Sources based on this effect can be used for quantum computation and cryptography, and can in principle be integrated with standard CMOS fabrication technology and components. However, one of the major challenges is the on-chip demultiplexing of the photons, and in particular the filtering of the pump power, which is many orders of magnitude larger than that of the signal and idler photons. Here, we propose a photonic crystal coupled-cavity system designed so that the coupling of the pump mode to the output channel is strictly zero due to symmetry. We further analyze this effect in presence of fabrication disorder and find that, even then, a pump suppression of close to 40 dB can be achieved in state-of-the art systems. Due to the small mode volumes and high quality factors, our system is also expected to have a generation efficiency much higher than in standard micro-ring systems. Those two considerations make a strong case for the integration of our proposed design in future on-chip quantum technologies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Haldane Quantum Hall Effect for Light in a Dynamically Modulated Array of Resonators

Topological insulators have attracted abundant attention for a variety of reasons -- notably, the possibility for lossless energy transport through edge states `protected' against disorder. Topological effects like the Quantum Hall state can be induced through a gauge field, which is however hard to create in practice, especially for charge-neutral particles. One way to induce an effective gauge potential is through a dynamic, time-periodic modulation of the lattice confining such particles. In this way, the Haldane Quantum Hall effect was recently observed in a cold atom system. Here, we show how this same effect can be induced for light confined to a lattice of identical optical resonators, using an on-site modulation of the resonant frequencies. We further demonstrate the existence of one-directional edge states immune to back-scattering losses, and discuss the possibilities for a practical implementation, which would enable slow-light devices of unprecedented quality.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

A Matrix-Product-Operator Approach to the Nonequilibrium Steady State of Driven-Dissipative Quantum Arrays

We develop a numerical procedure to efficiently model the nonequilibrium steady state of one-dimensional arrays of open quantum systems, based on a matrix-product operator ansatz for the density matrix. The procedure searches for the null eigenvalue of the Liouvillian superoperator by sweeping along the system while carrying out a partial diagonalization of the single-site stationary problem. It bears full analogy to the density-matrix renormalization group approach to the ground state of isolated systems, and its numerical complexity scales as a power law with the bond dimension. The method brings considerable advantage when compared to the integration of the time-dependent problem via Trotter decomposition, as it can address arbitrarily long-ranged couplings. Additionally, it ensures numerical stability in the case of weakly dissipative systems thanks to a slow tuning of the dissipation rates along the sweeps. We have tested the method on a driven-dissipative spin chain, under various assumptions for the Hamiltonian, drive, and dissipation parameters, and compared the results to those obtained both by Trotter dynamics and Monte-Carlo wave function. Accurate and numerically stable convergence was always achieved when applying the method to systems with a gapped Liouvillian and a non-degenerate steady-state.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Gallium nitride L3 photonic crystal cavities with an average quality factor of 16,900 in the near infrared

Photonic crystal point-defect cavities were fabricated in a GaN free-standing photonic crystal slab. The cavities are based on the popular L3 design, which was optimized using an automated process based on a genetic algorithm, in order to maximize the quality factor. Optical characterization of several individual cavity replicas resulted in an average unloaded quality factor Q = 16,900 at the resonant wavelength λ $\sim 1.3$ μm, with a maximal measured Q value of 22,500. The statistics of both the quality factor and the resonant wavelength are well explained by first-principles simulations including fabrication disorder and background optical absorption.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Superfluid-insulator transition of two-dimensional disordered Bose gases

We study the two-dimensional weakly repulsive Bose gas at zero temperature in the presence of correlated disorder. Using large-scale simulations, we show that the low-energy Bogoliubov cumulative density of states remains quadratic up to a critical disorder strength, beyond which a power law with disorder-dependent exponent $β<2$ sets in. We associate this threshold behavior with the transition from superfluid to Bose glass, and compare the resulting mean-field phase diagram with scaling laws and the Thomas-Fermi percolation threshold of the mean-field density profile.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

High-Q silicon photonic crystal cavity for enhanced optical nonlinearities

We fabricate and experimentally characterize a $H0$ photonic crystal slab nanocavity with a design optimized for maximal quality factor, $Q = 1.7$ million. The cavity, fabricated from a silicon slab, has a resonant mode at $λ= 1.59 \mathrm{μm}$ and a measured $Q$-factor of $400,000$. It displays nonlinear effects, including high-contrast optical bistability, at a threshold power among the lowest ever reported for a silicon device. With a theoretical modal volume as small as $V = 0.34(λ/n)^3$, this cavity ranks among those with the highest $Q/V$ ratios ever demonstrated, while having a small footprint suited for integration in photonic circuits.

physics.optics↗