Bopp operators and phase-space spin dynamics: Application to rotational quantum brownian motion

As already known for nonrelativistic spinless particles, Bopp operators give an elegant and simple way to compute the dynamics of quasiprobability distributions in the phase space formulation of Quantum Mechanics. In this work, we present a generalization of Bopp operators for spins and apply our results to the case of open spin systems. This approach allows to take the classical limit in a transparent way, recovering the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation

A scalable architecture for quantum computation with molecular nanomagnets

A proposal for a magnetic quantum processor that consists of individual molecular spins coupled to superconducting coplanar resonators and transmission lines is carefully examined. We derive a simple magnetic quantum electrodynamics Hamiltonian to describe the underlying physics. It is shown that these hybrid devices can perform arbitrary operations on each spin qubit and induce tunable interactions between any pair of them. The combination of these two operations ensures that the processor can perform universal quantum computations. The feasibility of this proposal is critically discussed using the results of realistic calculations, based on parameters of existing devices and molecular qubits. These results show that the proposal is feasible, provided that molecules with sufficiently long coherence times can be developed and accurately integrated into specific areas of the device. This architecture has an enormous potential for scaling up quantum computation thanks to the microscopic nature of the individual constituents, the molecules, and the possibility of using their internal spin degrees of freedom.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figure

Ultrastrongly dissipative quantum Rabi model

We discuss both the spectrum and the dynamics of cavity QED in the presence of dissipation beyond the standard perturbative treatment of losses. Using the dynamical polaron ansatz and matrix-product state simulations, we discuss the case where both light-matter g coupling and system-bath interaction are in the ultra-strong-coupling regime. We provide a critical g for the onset of Rabi oscillations. Besides, we demonstrate that the qubit is dressed by the cavity and dissipation. Such a dressing governs the dynamics and, thus, it can be measured. Finally, we sketch an implementation for our theoretical ideas within circuit QED technology

Strong Coupling of a Single Photon to a Magnetic Vortex

Strong light-matter coupling means that cavity photons and other types of matter excitations are coherently exchanged. It is used to couple different qubits (matter) via a quantum bus (photons) or to communicate different types of excitations, e.g., transducing light into phonons or magnons. A, so far, unexplored interface is the coupling between light and topologically protected particle-like excitations as magnetic domain walls, skyrmions, or vortices. Here, we show theoretically that a single photon living in a superconducting cavity can be strongly coupled to the gyrotropic mode of a magnetic vortex in a nanodisc. We combine numerical and analytical calculations for a superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator and different realizations of the nanodisc (materials and sizes). We show that, for enhancing the coupling, constrictions fabricated in the resonator are crucial, allowing to reach strong coupling in CoFe discs of radius 200-400 nm having resonance frequencies of a few GHz. The strong coupling regime permits coherently exchanging a single photon and quanta of vortex gyration. Thus, our calculations show that the device proposed here serves as a transducer between photons and gyrating vortices, opening the way to complement superconducting qubits with topologically protected spin-excitations such as vortices or skyrmions. We finish by discussing potential applications in quantum data processing based on the exploitation of the vortex as a short-wavelength magnon emitter

Full two-photon downconversion of just a single photon

We demonstrate, both numerically and analytically, that it is possible to generate two photons from one and only one photon. We characterize the output two photon field and make our calculations close to reality by including losses. Our proposal relies on real or artificial three-level atoms with a cyclic transition strongly coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide. We show that close to perfect downconversion with efficiency over 99% is reachable using state-of-the-art Waveguide QED architectures such as photonic crystals or superconducting circuits. In particular, we sketch an implementation in circuit QED, where the three level atom is a transmon

Coupling single molecule magnets to quantum circuits

In this work we study theoretically the coupling of single molecule magnets (SMMs) to a variety of quantum circuits, including microwave resonators with and without constrictions and flux qubits. The main results of this study is that it is possible to achieve strong and ultrastrong coupling regimes between SMM crystals and the superconducting circuit, with strong hints that such a coupling could also be reached for individual molecules close to constrictions. Building on the resulting coupling strengths and the typical coherence times of these molecules (of the order of microseconds), we conclude that SMMs can be used for coherent storage and manipulation of quantum information, either in the context of quantum computing or in quantum simulations. Throughout the work we also discuss in detail the family of molecules that are most suitable for such operations, based not only on the coupling strength, but also on the typical energy gaps and the simplicity with which they can be tuned and oriented. Finally, we also discuss practical advantages of SMMs, such as the possibility to fabricate the SMMs ensembles on the chip through the deposition of small droplets.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure

Non-linear response of single-molecule magnets: field-tuned quantum-to-classical crossovers

Quantum nanomagnets can show a field dependence of the relaxation time very different from their classical counterparts, due to resonant tunneling via excited states (near the anisotropy barrier top). The relaxation time then shows minima at the resonant fields H_{n}=n D at which the levels at both sides of the barrier become degenerate (D is the anisotropy constant). We showed that in Mn12, near zero field, this yields a contribution to the nonlinear susceptibility that makes it qualitatively different from the classical curves [Phys. Rev. B 72, 224433 (2005)]. Here we extend the experimental study to finite dc fields showing how the bias can trigger the system to display those quantum nonlinear responses, near the resonant fields, while recovering an classical-like behaviour for fields between them. The analysis of the experiments is done with heuristic expressions derived from simple balance equations and calculations with a Pauli-type quantum master equation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B, brief report

Spin squeezing by one-photon-two-atom excitation processes in atomic ensembles

It has been shown elsewhere that two spatially separated atoms can jointly absorb one photon, whose frequency is equal to the sum of the transition frequencies of the two atoms. We describe this process in the presence of an ensemble of many two-level atoms and show that it can be used to generate spin squeezing and entanglement. This resonant collective process allows us to create a sizable squeezing already at the single-photon limit. It represents a way to generate many-body spin-spin interactions, yielding a two-axis twisting-like interaction among the spins, which is very efficient for the generation of spin squeezing. We perform explicit calculations for ensembles of magnetic molecules coupled to a superconducting coplanar cavities. This system represents an attractive on-chip architecture for the realization of improved sensing