Driven Quantum Systems Research Articles

Electronic states bound by repulsive potentials in graphene irradiated by a circularly polarized electromagnetic field

In the framework of the Floquet theory of periodically driven quantum systems, it is demonstrated that irradiation of graphene by a circularly polarized electromagnetic field induces an attractive area in the core of repulsive potentials. Consequently, the quasi-stationary electron states bound by the repulsive potentials appear. The difference between such field-induced states in graphene and usual systems with the parabolic dispersion of electrons is discussed and possible manifestations of these states in electronic transport and optical spectra of graphene are considered.

Large-scale simulations of Floquet physics on near-term quantum computers

Periodically driven quantum systems exhibit a diverse set of phenomena but are more challenging to simulate than their equilibrium counterparts. Here, we introduce the Quantum High-Frequency Floquet Simulation (QHiFFS) algorithm as a method to simulate fast-driven quantum systems on quantum hardware. Central to QHiFFS is the concept of a kick operator which transforms the system into a basis where the dynamics is governed by a time-independent effective Hamiltonian. This allows prior methods for time-independent simulation to be lifted to simulate Floquet systems. We use the periodically driven biaxial next-nearest neighbor Ising (BNNNI) model, a natural test bed for quantum frustrated magnetism and criticality, as a case study to illustrate our algorithm. We implemented a 20-qubit simulation of the driven two-dimensional BNNNI model on Quantinuum’s trapped ion quantum computer. Our error analysis shows that QHiFFS exhibits not only a cubic advantage in driving frequency ω but also a linear advantage in simulation time t compared to Trotterization.

Continuous Coherent Quantum Feedback with Time Delays: Tensor Network Solution

In this paper, we develop a novel method to solve problems involving quantum optical systems coupled to coherent quantum feedback loops featuring time delays. Our method is based on exact mappings of such non-Markovian problems to equivalent Markovian driven dissipative quantum many-body problems. In this work, we show that the resulting Markovian quantum many-body problems can be solved (numerically) exactly and efficiently using tensor network methods for a series of paradigmatic examples, consisting of driven quantum systems coupled to waveguides at several distant points. In particular, we show that our method allows solving problems in so far inaccessible regimes, including problems with arbitrary long time delays and arbitrary numbers of excitations in the delay lines. We obtain solutions for the full real-time dynamics as well as the steady state in all these regimes. Finally, motivated by our results, we develop a novel mean-field approach, which allows us to find the solution semianalytically, and we identify parameter regimes where this approximation is in excellent agreement with our tensor network results. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Interaction time of Schrödinger cat states with a periodically driven quantum system: Symplectic covariance approach

Interaction time of Schrödinger cat states with a periodically driven quantum system: Symplectic covariance approach

Prethermalization and Conservation Laws in Quasi-Periodically Driven Quantum Systems

Prethermalization and Conservation Laws in Quasi-Periodically Driven Quantum Systems

Floquet engineering of electronic states and optical absorption in laterally-coupled quantum rings under a magnetic field.

Tuning electronic and optical properties of low-dimensional quantum systems in a flexible way is of particular importance in designing semiconductor-based devices. Semiconductor quantum rings (QRs) are nanoscopic structures that have become promising systems for physical and technological applications due to their unique electronic and optical properties. Here, we explore the fundamental electronic and optical properties of laterally-coupled QRs by taking into account the combined effects of applied magnetic and non-resonant terahertz intense laser fields. The laser-dressed electronic states are solved using the Floquet theory of periodically driven quantum systems in high-frequency limits within the framework of effective mass approximation. We demonstrate that increasing the laser field parameter leads to reduced tunnel splitting in the energy spectrum and more pronounced Aharonov-Bohm oscillations for the ground state energy, due to the attenuation of the tunnel coupling. Furthermore, depending on the position of the avoided crossings in Aharonov-Bohm oscillations of laterally-coupled quantum rings, the evolution of the avoided crossings with increasing the laser field parameter can be elucidated as the attenuated tunnel coupling or the competition between the attenuated tunnel coupling and the strengthening anisotropy of the laser-dressed QR potential well. The intensity of the intraband optical transition of laterally-coupled QRs can be effectively tuned and reaches a larger value by manipulating the laser parameter and magnetic field. Optical Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in laterally-coupled QRs are still exhibited by changing laser field parameters. Our findings offer a novel approach to manipulate the electronic and optical performances as well as the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations based on the laterally-coupled QRs by using an intense terahertz laser field.

A driven Kerr oscillator with two-fold degeneracies for qubit protection

We present the experimental finding of multiple simultaneous two-fold degeneracies in the spectrum of a Kerr oscillator subjected to a squeezing drive. This squeezing drive resulting from a three-wave mixing process, in combination with the Kerr interaction, creates an effective static two-well potential in the phase space rotating at half the frequency of the sinusoidal drive generating the squeezing. Remarkably, these degeneracies can be turned on-and-off on demand, as well as their number by simply adjusting the frequency of the squeezing drive. We find that when the detuning Δ between the frequency of the oscillator and the second subharmonic of the drive equals an even multiple of the Kerr coefficient K, [Formula: see text], the oscillator displays [Formula: see text] exact, parity-protected, spectral degeneracies, insensitive to the drive amplitude. These degeneracies can be explained by the unusual destructive interference of tunnel paths in the classically forbidden region of the double well static effective potential that models our experiment. Exploiting this interference, we measure a peaked enhancement of the incoherent well-switching lifetime, thus creating a protected cat qubit in the ground state manifold of our oscillator. Our results illustrate the relationship between degeneracies and noise protection in a driven quantum system.

Unveiling the interplay of Mollow physics and perturbed free induction decay by nonlinear optical signals of a dynamically driven two-level system

Nonlinear optical signals in optically driven quantum systems can reveal coherences and thereby open up the possibility for manipulation of quantum states. While the limiting cases of ultrafast and continuous-wave excitation have been extensively studied, the time dynamics of finite pulses bear interesting phenomena. In this paper, we explore the nonlinear optical probe signals of a two-level system excited with a laser pulse of finite duration. In addition to the prominent Mollow peaks, the probe spectra feature several smaller peaks for certain time delays. Similar features have been recently observed for resonance fluorescence signals [K. Boos , ]. We discuss that the emergent phenomena can be explained by a combination of Mollow triplet physics and perturbed free induction decay effects, providing an insightful understanding of the underlying physics. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Quantum Work Statistics at Strong Reservoir Coupling.

Determining the statistics of work done on a quantum system while strongly coupled to a reservoir is a formidable task, requiring the calculation of the full eigenspectrum of the combined system and reservoir. Here, we show that this issue can be circumvented by using a polaron transformation that maps the system into a new frame where weak-coupling theory can be applied. Crucially, this polaron approach reproduces the Jarzynski fluctuation theorem, thus ensuring consistency with the laws of stochastic thermodynamics. We apply our formalism to a system driven across the Landau-Zener transition, where we identify clear signatures in the work distribution arising from a non-negligible coupling to the environment. Our results provide a new method for studying the stochastic thermodynamics of driven quantum systems beyond Markovian, weak-coupling regimes.

Dynamical localization and slow dynamics in quasiperiodically driven quantum systems

Dynamical localization and slow dynamics in quasiperiodically driven quantum systems

Floquet Insulators and Lattice Fermions.

Floquet insulators are periodically driven quantum systems that can host novel topological phases as a function of the drive parameters. These new phases exhibit features reminiscent of fermion doubling in discrete-time lattice fermion theories. We make this suggestion concrete by mapping the spectrum of a noninteracting (1+1)D Floquet insulator for certain drive parameters onto that of a discrete-time lattice fermion theory with a time-independent Hamiltonian. The resulting Hamiltonian is distinct from the Floquet Hamiltonian that generates stroboscopic dynamics. It can take the form of a discrete-time Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with half the number of spatial sites of the original model, or of a (1+1)D Wilson-Dirac theory with one quarter of the spatial sites.

Observation of Subdiffusive Dynamic Scaling in a Driven and Disordered Bose Gas.

We explore the dynamics of a tuneable box-trapped Bose gas under strong periodic forcing in the presence of weak disorder. In absence of interparticle interactions, the interplay of the drive and disorder results in an isotropic nonthermal momentum distribution that shows subdiffusive dynamic scaling, with sublinear energy growth and the universal scaling function captured well by a compressed exponential. We explain that this subdiffusion in momentum space can naturally be understood as a random walk in energy space. We also experimentally show that for increasing interaction strength, the gas behavior smoothly crosses over to wave turbulence characterized by a power-law momentum distribution, which opens new possibilities for systematic studies of the interplay of disorder and interactions in driven quantum systems.

Squeezing, chaos and thermalization in periodically driven quantum systems: the case of bosonic preheating

The phenomena of Squeezing and chaos have recently been studied in the context of inflation. We apply this formalism in the post-inflationary preheating phase. During this phase, the inflaton field undergoes quasi-periodic oscillation, which acts as a driving force for the resonant growth of quantum fluctuation or particle production. Furthermore, the quantum state of the fluctuations is known to have evolved into a squeezed state. In this submission, we explore the underlying connection between the resonant growth, squeezing, and chaos by computing the Out of Time Order Correlator (OTOC) of phase space variables and establishing a relation among the Lyapunov, Floquet exponents, and squeezing parameters. For our study, we consider observationally favored α-attractor E-model of inflaton coupled with the bosonic field. After the production, the system of produced bosonic fluctuations/particles from the inflaton is supposed to thermalize, and that is believed to have an intriguing connection to the nature of chaos of the system under perturbation. We conjecture a relation between the thermalization temperature (T¯SS\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\overline{T}}_{\ extrm{SS}} $$\\end{document}) of the system and quantum squeezing, which is further shown to be consistent with the well-known Rayleigh-Jeans formula for the temperature symbolized as T¯RJ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\overline{T}}_{\ extrm{RJ}} $$\\end{document}, and that is T¯SS≃T¯RJ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\overline{T}}_{\ extrm{SS}}\\simeq {\\overline{T}}_{\ extrm{RJ}} $$\\end{document}. Finally, we show that the system temperature is in accord with the well-known lower bound on the temperature of a chaotic system proposed by Maldacena-Shenker-Stanford (MSS).

Emergent strong zero mode through local Floquet engineering

Periodically driven quantum systems host exotic phenomena that often do not have any analog in undriven systems. Floquet prethermalization and dynamical freezing of certain observables, via the emergence of conservation laws, are realized by controlling the drive frequency. Recent experimental developments in synthetic quantum matter, such as superconducting qubits and cold atoms, have opened avenues for implementing local Floquet engineering which can achieve spatially modulated quantum control of states. Here, we uncover the novel memory effects of local periodic driving in a nonintegrable spin-half staggered Heisenberg chain. For a boundary-driven protocol at the dynamical freezing frequency, we show the formation of an approximate strong zero mode, a prethermal quasilocal operator, due to the emergence of a discrete global Z2 symmetry. This is captured by constructing an accurate effective Floquet Hamiltonian using a higher-order partially resummed Floquet-Magnus expansion. The lifetime of the boundary spin can be exponentially enhanced by enlarging the set of suitably chosen driven sites. We demonstrate that in the asymptotic limit, achieved by increasing the number of driven sites, a strong zero mode emerges, where the lifetime of the boundary spin grows exponentially with system size. The nonlocal processes in the Floquet Hamiltonian play a pivotal role in the total freezing of the boundary spin in the thermodynamic limit. The novel dynamics of the boundary spin is accompanied by a rich structure of entanglement in the Floquet eigenstates where specific bipartitions yield an area-law scaling while the entanglement for random bipartitions scales as a volume-law. Our work addresses the long-standing question of the existence of a strong zero mode in a nonintegrable model and elucidates the complex nature of thermalization in locally driven systems. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Unified light-matter Floquet theory and its application to quantum communication

Periodically driven quantum systems can exhibit a plethora of intriguing nonequilibrium phenomena that can be analyzed using Floquet theory. Naturally, Floquet theory is employed to describe the dynamics of atoms interacting with intense laser fields. However, this semiclassical analysis cannot account for quantum-optical phenomena that rely on the quantized nature of light. In this paper, we take a significant step to go beyond the semiclassical description of atom-photon coupled systems by unifying Floquet theory with quantum optics using the framework of full-counting statistics. This is achieved by introducing counting fields that keep track of the photonic dynamics. This formalism, which we dub “photon-resolved Floquet theory” (PRFT), is based on two-point tomographic measurements, instead of the two-point projective measurements used in standard full-counting statistics. Strikingly, the PRFT predicts the generation of macroscopic light-matter entanglement when atoms interact with multimode electromagnetic fields, thereby leading to complete decoherence of the atomic subsystem in the basis of the Floquet states. This decoherence occurs rapidly in the optical-frequency regime, but is negligible in the radio-frequency regime. Our results thus pave the way for the design of efficient quantum memories and quantum operations. Finally, employing the PRFT, we propose a quantum-communication protocol that can significantly outperform the state-of-art few-photon protocols by two orders of magnitude or better. The PRFT potentially leads to insights in various Floquet settings including spectroscopy, thermodynamics, quantum metrology, and quantum simulations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Floquet insulators and lattice fermions beyond naive time discretization

Periodically driven quantum systems known as Floquet insulators can host topologically protected bound states known as “π modes” that exhibit response at half the frequency of the drive. Such states can also appear in undriven lattice field theories when time is discretized as a result of fermion doubling, raising the question of whether these two phenomena could be connected. Recently we demonstrated such a connection at the level of an explicit mapping between the spectra of a continuous-time Floquet model and a discrete-time undriven lattice fermion model. However, this mapping relied on a symmetry of the single-particle spectrum that is not present for generic drive parameters. Inspired by the example of the temporal Wilson term in lattice field theory, in this paper we extend this mapping to the full drive parameter space by allowing the parameters of the discrete-time model to be frequency-dependent. The spectra of the resulting lattice fermion models exactly match the quasienergy spectrum of the Floquet model in the thermodynamic limit. Our results demonstrate that spectral features characteristic of beyond-equilibrium physics in Floquet systems can be replicated in static systems with appropriate time discretization. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Rayleigh-Jeans prethermalization and wave condensation in a nonlinear disordered Floquet system

Periodically driven quantum systems make it possible to reach stationary states with new emerging properties. However, this process is notoriously difficult in the presence of interactions because continuous energy exchanges generally boil the system to an infinite temperature featureless state. Here, we describe how to reach nontrivial states in a periodically kicked nonlinear disordered system. One ingredient is crucial: both disorder and kick strengths should be weak enough to induce sufficiently narrow and well-separated Floquet bands. In this case, inter-band heating processes are strongly suppressed and the system can reach an exponentially long-lived prethermal plateau described by the Rayleigh-Jeans distribution. Saliently, the system can even undergo a wave condensation process when its initial state has a sufficiently low total quasi-energy.

Dynamical localization and slow thermalization in a class of disorder-free periodically driven one-dimensional interacting systems

We study if the interplay between dynamical localization and interactions in periodically driven quantum systems can give rise to anomalous thermalization behavior. Specifically, we consider one-dimensional models with interacting spinless fermions with nearest-neighbor hopping and density-density interactions, and a periodically driven on-site potential with spatial periodicity m=2 and m=4. At a dynamical localization point, these models evade thermalization either due to the presence of an extensive number of conserved quantities (for weak interactions) or due to the kinetic constraints caused by drive-induced resonances (for strong interactions). Our models therefore illustrate interesting mechanisms for generating constrained dynamics in Floquet systems which are difficult to realize in an undriven system.

Krylov construction and complexity for driven quantum systems.

Krylov complexity is an important dynamical quantity with relevance to the study of operator growth and quantum chaos and has recently been much studied for various time-independent systems. We initiate the study of K complexity in time-dependent (driven) quantum systems. For periodic time-dependent (Floquet) systems, we develop a natural method for doing the Krylov construction and then define (state and operator) K complexity for such systems. Focusing on kicked systems, in particular the quantum kicked rotor on a torus, we provide a detailed numerical study of the time dependence of Arnoldi coefficients as well as of the K complexity with the system coupling constant interpolating between the weak and strong coupling regimes. We also study the growth of the Krylov subspace dimension as a function of the system coupling constant.

Completely Positive Map for Noisy Driven Quantum Systems Derived by Keldysh Expansion

Accurate modeling of decoherence errors in quantum processors is crucial for analyzing and improving gate fidelities. To increase the accuracy beyond that of the Lindblad dynamical map, several generalizations have been proposed, and the exploration of simpler and more systematic frameworks is still ongoing. In this paper, we introduce a decoherence model based on the Keldysh formalism. This formalism allows us to include non-periodic drives and correlated quantum noise in our model. In addition to its wide range of applications, our method is also numerically simple, and yields a CPTP map. These features allow us to integrate the Keldysh map with quantum-optimal-control techniques. We demonstrate that this strategy generates pulses that mitigate correlated quantum noise in qubit state-transfer and gate operations.