Multiphoton antiresonance

We show that nonlinear response of a quantum oscillator displays antiresonant dips and resonant peaks with varying frequency of the driving field. The effect is a consequence of special symmetry and is related to resonant multiphoton mixing of several pairs of oscillator states at a time. We discuss the possibility to observe the antiresonance and the associated multiphoton Rabi oscillations in Josephson junctions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; corrected referenc

Scaling in activated escape of underdamped systems

Noise-induced escape from a metastable state of a dynamical system is studied close to a saddle-node bifurcation point, but in the region where the system remains underdamped. The activation energy of escape scales as a power of the distance to the bifurcation point. We find two types of scaling and the corresponding critical exponents.Comment: 9 page

Qubit state detection using the quantum Duffing oscillator

We introduce a detection scheme for the state of a qubit, which is based on resonant few-photon transitions in a driven nonlinear resonator. The latter is parametrically coupled to the qubit and is used as its detector. Close to the fundamental resonator frequency, the nonlinear resonator shows sharp resonant few-photon transitions. Depending on the qubit state, these few-photon resonances are shifted to different driving frequencies. We show that this detection scheme offers the advantage of small back action, a large discrimination power with an enhanced read-out fidelity, and a sufficiently large measurement efficiency. A realization of this scheme in the form of a persistent current qubit inductively coupled to a driven SQUID detector in its nonlinear regime is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Quantum interference in the classically forbidden region: a parametric oscillator

We study tunneling between period two states of a parametrically modulated oscillator. The tunneling matrix element is shown to oscillate with the varying frequency of the modulating field. The effect is due to spatial oscillations of the wave function and the related interference in the classically forbidden region. The oscillations emerge already in the ground state of the oscillator Hamiltonian in the rotating frame, which is quartic in the momentum.Comment: Submitted to PR

Properties of discrete breathers in graphane from ab initio simulations

A density functional theory (DFT) study of the discrete breathers (DBs) in graphane (fully hydrogenated graphene) was performed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the existence of DBs in a crystalline body from the first-principle simulations. It is found that the DB is a robust, highly localized vibrational mode with one hydrogen atom oscillating with a large amplitude along the direction normal to the graphane plane with all neighboring atoms having much smaller vibration amplitudes. DB frequency decreases with increase in its amplitude, and it can take any value within the phonon gap and can even enter the low-frequency phonon band. The concept of DB is then used to propose an explanation to the recent experimental results on the nontrivial kinetics of graphane dehydrogenation at elevated temperatures.Comment: 20.07.14 Submitted to PhysRev