Optimized time-dependent perturbation theory for pulse-driven quantum dynamics in atomic or molecular systems

We present a time-dependent perturbative approach adapted to the treatment of intense pulsed interactions. We show there is a freedom in choosing secular terms and use it to optimize the accuracy of the approximation. We apply this formulation to a unitary superconvergent technique and improve the accuracy by several orders of magnitude with respect to the Magnus expansion.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Determination of the threshold of the break-up of invariant tori in a class of three frequency Hamiltonian systems

We consider a class of Hamiltonians with three degrees of freedom that can be mapped into quasi-periodically driven pendulums. The purpose of this paper is to determine the threshold of the break-up of invariant tori with a specific frequency vector. We apply two techniques: the frequency map analysis and renormalization-group methods. The renormalization transformation acting on a Hamiltonian is a canonical change of coordinates which is a combination of a partial elimination of the irrelevant modes of the Hamiltonian and a rescaling of phase space around the considered torus. We give numerical evidence that the critical coupling at which the renormalization transformation starts to diverge is the same as the value given by the frequency map analysis for the break-up of invariant tori. Furthermore, we obtain by these methods numerical values of the threshold of the break-up of the last invariant torus.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Adiabatic creation of entangled states by a bichromatic field designed from the topology of the dressed eigenenergies

Preparation of entangled pairs of coupled two-state systems driven by a bichromatic external field is studied. We use a system of two coupled spin-1/2 that can be translated into a three-state ladder model whose intermediate state represents the entangled state. We show that this entangled state can be prepared in a robust way with appropriate fields. Their frequencies and envelopes are derived from the topological properties of the model.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Approach to equilibrium for a class of random quantum models of infinite range

We consider random generalizations of a quantum model of infinite range introduced by Emch and Radin. The generalization allows a neat extension from the class $l_1$ of absolutely summable lattice potentials to the optimal class $l_2$ of square summable potentials first considered by Khanin and Sinai and generalised by van Enter and van Hemmen. The approach to equilibrium in the case of a Gaussian distribution is proved to be faster than for a Bernoulli distribution for both short-range and long-range lattice potentials. While exponential decay to equilibrium is excluded in the nonrandom $l_1$ case, it is proved to occur for both short and long range potentials for Gaussian distributions, and for potentials of class $l_2$ in the Bernoulli case. Open problems are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, no figures. This last version, to appear in J. Stat. Phys., corrects some minor errors and includes additional references and comments on the relation to experiment

Pure Point Spectrum of the Floquet Hamiltonian for the Quantum Harmonic Oscillator Under Time Quasi- Periodic Perturbations

We prove that the $1-d$ quantum harmonic oscillator is stable under spatially localized, time quasi-periodic perturbations on a set of Diophantine frequencies of positive measure. This proves a conjecture raised by Enss-Veselic in their 1983 paper \cite{EV} in the general quasi-periodic setting. The motivation of the present paper also comes from construction of quasi-periodic solutions for the corresponding nonlinear equation

Two-laser multiphoton adiabatic passage in the frame of the Floquet theory. Applications to (1+1) and (2+1) STIRAP

We develop an adiabatic two-mode Floquet theory to analyse multiphoton coherent population transfer in $N$-level systems by two delayed laser pulses, which is a generalization of the three-state stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP). The main point is that, under conditions of non-crossing and adiabaticity, the outcome and feasibility of a STIRAP process can be determined by the analysis of two features: (i) the lifting of degeneracy of dressed states at the beginning and at the end of the laser pulses, and (ii) the connectivity of these degeneracy-lifted branches in the quasienergy diagram. Both features can be determined by stationnary perturbation theory in the Floquet representation. As an illustration, we study the corrections to the RWA of the (1+1) STIRAP in strong fields and for large detunings. We analyse the possible breakdown of connectivity. In strong fields, the complete transfer is achieved, but the intermediate state, unpopulated within the RWA, can become populated during the process. In the (2+1) STIRAP, we show a residual degeneracy in a four-level system, that can be lifted by additional Stark shifts. The complete transfer is achieved under conditions of connectivity

Space-time propagation of photon pulses in dielectric media,illustrations with beam splitters

International audiencePhotons are the elementary quantum excitations of the electromagnetic field. Quantization is usually constructed on the basis of an expansion in eigenmodes, in the form of plane waves. Since they form a basis, other electromagnetic configurations can be constructed by linear combinations. In this presentation we discuss a formulation constructed in the general formalism of bosonic Fock space, in which the quantum excitation can be constructed directly on localized pulses of arbitrary shape. Although the two formulations are essentially equivalent, the direct formulation in terms of pulses has some conceptual and practical advantages, which we illustrate with some examples. The first one is the passage of a single photon pulse through a beam splitter. The analysis of this formulation in terms of pulses in Fock space shows that there is no need to introduce "vacuum fluctuations entering through the unused port", as is often done in the literature. Another example is the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect. It is described as a time dependent process in the Schrödinger representation in Fock space. The analysis shows explicitly how the two essential ingredients of the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect are the same shape of the pulses and the bosonic nature of photons. This formulation shows that all the phenomena involving linear quantum optical devices can be described and calculated on the basis of the time dependent solution of the corresponding classical Maxwell's equations for pulses, from which the quantum dynamics in Fock space can be immediately constructed

Quantum logic gates by adiabatic passage

We present adiabatic passage techniques for the realisation of one and two-qubit quantum gates. These methods use evolution along dark-states of the system, avoiding decoherence effects such as spontaneous emission. The advantage of these methods is their robustness: they are insensitive to the fluctuations of the parameters and to partial knowledge of the system

Collective strong coupling in a plasmonic nanocavity

International audienceQuantum plasmonics extends cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED) concepts to the nanoscale, taking benefit from the strongly subwavelength confinement of the plasmon modes supported by metal nanostructures. In this work, we describe in detail collective strong coupling to a plasmonic nanocavity. Similarities and differences to cQED are emphasized. We notably observe that the Rabi splitting can strongly deviate from the standard $\sqrt{N_e}\Delta \Omega_1$ law, where $N_e$ is the number of emitters and $\Delta \Omega_1$ the Rabi splitting for a single emitter. In addition, we discuss the collective Lamb shift and the role of quantum corrections to the emission spectra

Temporal spying and concealing process in fibre-optic data transmission systems through polarization bypass

Recent research has been focused on the ability to manipulate a light beam in such a way to hide, namely to cloak, an event over a finite time or localization in space. The main idea is to create a hole or a gap in the spatial or time domain so as to allow for an object or data to be kept hidden for a while and then to be restored. By enlarging the field of applications of this concept to telecommunications, researchers have recently reported the possibility to hide transmitted data in an optical fibre. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of perpetual temporal spying and blinding process of optical data in fibre-optic transmission line based on polarization bypass. We successfully characterize the performance of our system by alternatively copying and then concealing 100% of a 10 Gb s−1 transmitted signal