Publications of Álvaro Gómez-León

Poor man’s Majorana Bound States (MBS) arise in minimal Kitaev chains when the parameters are fine-tuned to a sweet spot. We consider an interacting two-site Kitaev chain coupled to a single-mode cavity and show that the sweet spot condition can be controlled with the cavity frequency and the hopping between sites. Furthermore, we demonstrate that photon-mediated effective interactions can be used to screen intrinsic interactions, improving the original quality of the MBS. We describe experimental signatures in the cavity transmission to detect their presence and quality. Our work proposes a new way to tune poor man’s MBS in a quantum dot array coupled to a cavity.

Anomalous Floquet topological phases are a hallmark, without a static analog, of periodically driven systems. Recently, Quantum Floquet Engineering has emerged as an interesting approach to cavity-QED materials, which recovers the physics of Floquet engineering in its semi-classical limit. However, the mapping between these two widely different scenarios remains mysterious in many aspects. We discuss the emergence of anomalous topological phases in cavity-QED materials, and link topological phase transitions in the many-body spectrum with those in the $0$- and $\pi$-gaps of Floquet quasienergies. Our results allow to establish the microscopic origin of an emergent discrete time-translation symmetry in the matter sector, and link the physics of isolated many-body systems with that of periodically driven ones. Finally, the relation between many-body and Floquet topological invariants is discussed, as well as the bulk-edge correspondence.

Quantum Floquet engineering (QFE) seeks to generalize the control of quantum systems with classical external fields, widely known as Semi-Classical Floquet engineering (SCFE), to quantum fields. However, to faithfully capture the physics at arbitrary coupling, a gauge-invariant description of light-matter interaction in cavity-QED materials is required, which makes the Hamiltonian highly non-linear in photonic operators. We provide a non-perturbative truncation scheme of the Hamiltonian, which is valid or arbitrary coupling strength, and use it to investigate the role of light-matter correlations, which are absent in SCFE. We find that even in the high-frequency regime, light-matter correlations can be crucial, in particular for the topological properties of a system. As an example, we show that for a SSH chain coupled to a cavity, light-matter correlations break the original chiral symmetry of the chain, strongly affecting the robustness of its edge states. In addition, we show how light-matter correlations are imprinted in the photonic spectral function and discuss their relation with the topology of the bands.

Low-noise microwave amplifiers are crucial for detecting weak signals in fields such as quantum technology and radio astronomy. However, designing an ideal amplifier is challenging, as it must cover a wide frequency range, add minimal noise, and operate directionally – amplifying signals only in the observer’s direction while protecting the source from environmental interference. In this work, we demonstrate that an array of non-linearly coupled Josephson parametric amplifiers (JPAs) can collectively function as a directional, broadband quantum amplifier by harnessing topological effects. By applying a collective four-wave-mixing pump with inhomogeneous amplitudes and linearly increasing phase, we break time-reversal symmetry in the JPA array and stabilize a topological amplification regime where signals are exponentially amplified in one direction and exponentially suppressed in the opposite. We show that compact devices with few sites $N\sim 11-17$ can achieve exceptional performance, with gains exceeding 20 dB over a bandwidth ranging from hundreds of MHz to GHz, and reverse isolation suppressing backward noise by more than 30 dB across all frequencies. The device also operates near the quantum noise limit and provides topological protection against up to 15% fabrication disorder, effectively suppressing gain ripples. The amplifier’s intrinsic directionality eliminates the need for external isolators, paving the way for fully on-chip, near-ideal superconducting pre-amplifiers.

We analyze the effect of a bath of spins interacting with a spin system in terms of the equation of motion technique. We show that this formalism can be used with general spin systems and baths, and discuss the concrete case of a Quantum Ising model longitudinally coupled to the bath. We show how the uncorrelated solutions change when spin-spin correlations are included, the properties of the quasiparticle excitations and the effect of internal dynamics in the spin bath.

We respond to the comments expressed by L. D’Alessio in arXiv:1412.3481 on our work “Floquet Fractional Chern Insulators” [Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 156801 (2014)]. We confirm the central result that the ground state of the effective Hamiltonian is an interacting fractional Chern insulator.

Floquet topological phases emerge when systems are periodically driven out-of-equilibrium. They gained attention due to their external control, which allows to simulate a wide variety of static systems by just tuning the external field in the high frequency regime. However, it was soon clear that their relevance goes beyond that, as for lower frequencies, anomalous phases without a static counterpart are present and the bulk-to-boundary correspondence can fail. In this work we discuss the important role of resonances in Floquet phases. For that, we present a method to find analytical solutions when the frequency of the drive matches the band gap, extending the well-known high frequency analysis of Floquet systems. With this formalism, we show that the topology of Floquet phases with resonances can be accurately captured in analytical terms. We also find a bulk-to-boundary correspondence between the number of edge states in finite systems and a set of topological invariants in different frames of reference, which crucially do not explicitly involve the micromotion. To illustrate our results, we periodically drive a SSH chain and a $\pi$-flux lattice, showing that our findings remain valid in various two-band systems and in different dimensions. In addition, we notice that the competition between rotating and counter-rotating terms must be carefully treated when the undriven system is a semi-metal. To conclude, we discuss the implications to experimental setups, including the direct detection of anomalous topological phases and the measurement of their invariants.

Anomalous topological phases, where edge states coexist with topologically trivial Chern bands, can only appear in periodically driven lattices. When the driving is smooth and continuous, the bulk-edge correspondence is guaranteed by the existence of a bulk invariant known as the winding number. However, in lattices subject to periodic discrete-step walks the existence of edge states does not only depend on bulk invariants but also on the boundary. This is a consequence of the absence of an intrinsic time-dependence or micromotion in discrete-step walks. We report the observation of edge states and a simultaneous measurement of the bulk invariants in anomalous topological phases in a two-dimensional synthetic photonic lattice subject to discrete-step walks. The lattice is implemented using time multiplexing of light pulses in two coupled fibre rings, in which one of the dimensions displays real space dynamics and the other one is parametric. The presence of edge states is inherent to the periodic driving and depends on the properties of the boundary in the implemented two-band model with zero Chern number. We provide a suitable expression for the topological invariants whose calculation does not rely on micromotion dynamics.

The implementation of a universal quantum processor still poses fundamental issues related to error mitigation and correction, which demand to investigate also platforms and computing schemes alternative to the main stream. A possibility is offered by employing multi-level logical units (qudits), naturally provided by molecular spins. Here we present the blueprint of a Molecular Spin Quantum Processor consisting of single Molecular Nanomagnets, acting as qudits, placed within superconducting resonators adapted to the size and interactions of these molecules to achieve a strong single spin to photon coupling. We show how to implement a universal set of gates in such a platform and to readout the final qudit state. Single-qudit unitaries (potentially embedding multiple qubits) are implemented by fast classical drives, while a novel scheme is introduced to obtain two-qubit gates via resonant photon exchange. The latter is compared to the dispersive approach, finding in general a significant improvement. The performance of the platform is assessed by realistic numerical simulations of gate sequences, such as Deutsch-Josza and quantum simulation algorithms. The very good results demonstrate the feasibility of the molecular route towards a universal quantum processor.

We study the phenomena of topological amplification in arrays of parametric oscillators. We find two phases of topological amplification, both with directional transport and exponential gain with the number of sites, and one of them featuring squeezing. We also find a topologically trivial phase with zero-energy modes which produces amplification but lacks the robust topological protection of the others. We characterize the resilience to disorder of the different phases and their stability, gain, and noise-to-signal ratio. Finally, we discuss their experimental implementation with state-of-the-art techniques.

We study photon-mediated interactions between molecular spin qudits in the dispersive regime of operation. We derive from a microscopic model the effective interaction between molecular spins, including their crystal field anisotropy (i.e., the presence of non-linear spin terms) and their multi-level structure. Finally, we calculate the long time dynamics for a pair of interacting molecular spins using the method of multiple scales analysis. This allows to find the set of 2-qudit gates that can be realized for a specific choice of molecular spins and to determine the time required for their implementation. Our results are relevant for the implementation of logical gates in general systems of qudits with unequally spaced levels or to determine an adequate computational subspace to encode and process the information.

We relate topological properties of non-Hermitian systems and observables of quantum open systems by using the Keldysh path-integral method. We express Keldysh Green’s functions in terms of effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonians that contain all the relevant topological information. We arrive at a frequency dependent topological index that is linked to the response of the system to perturbations at a given frequency. We show how to detect a transition between different topological phases by measuring the response to local perturbations. Our formalism is exemplified in a 1D Hatano-Nelson model, highlighting the difference between the bosonic and fermionic cases

We study the physics of a magnetic molecule described by a “giant” spin with multiple ($d > 2$) spin states interacting with the quantized cavity field produced by a superconducting resonator. By means of the input-output formalism, we derive an expression for the output modes in the dispersive regime of operation. It includes the effect of magnetic anisotropy, which makes different spin transitions addressable. We find that the measurement of the cavity transmission allows to uniquely determine the spin state of the qudits. We discuss, from an effective Hamiltonian perspective, the conditions under which the qudit read-out is a non-demolition measurement and consider possible experimental protocols to perform it. Finally, we illustrate our results with simulations performed for realistic models of existing magnetic molecules.

The unavoidable coupling of quantum systems to external degrees of freedom leads to dissipative (non-unitary) dynamics, which can be radically different from closed-system scenarios. Such open quantum system dynamics is generally described by Lindblad master equations, whose dynamical and steady-state properties are challenging to obtain, especially in the many-particle regime. Here, we introduce a method to deal with these systems based on the calculation of (dissipative) lattice Green’s function with a real-space decimation technique. Compared to other methods, such technique enables obtaining compact analytical expressions for the dynamics and steady-state properties, such as asymptotic decays or correlation lengths. We illustrate the power of this method with several examples of driven-dissipative bosonic chains of increasing complexity, including the Hatano-Nelson model. The latter is especially illustrative because its surface and bulk dissipative behavior are linked due to its non-trivial topology, which manifests in directional amplification.

Artificial magnetic molecules can contribute to progressing towards large scale quantum computation by: a) integrating multiple quantum resources and b) reducing the computational costs of some applications. Chemical design, guided by theoretical proposals, allows embedding nontrivial quantum functionalities in each molecular unit, which then acts as a microscopic quantum processor able to encode error protected logical qubits or to implement quantum simulations. Scaling up even further requires ‘wiring-up’ multiple molecules. We discuss how to achieve this goal by the coupling to on-chip superconducting resonators. The potential advantages of this hybrid approach and the challenges that still lay ahead are critically reviewed.

We investigate the quantum dynamics of a two-level system driven by a bichromatic field, using a non-perturbative analysis. We make special emphasis in the case of two large frequencies, where the Magnus expansion can fail, and in the case of a large and a small frequency, where resonances can dominate. In the first case, we show that two large frequencies can be combined to produce an effective adiabatic evolution. In the second case, we show that high frequency terms (which naturally arise as corrections to the adiabatic evolution obtained in the first case) can be used to produce a highly tunable adiabatic evolution over the whole Bloch sphere, controlled by multi-photon resonances.

Abstract We discuss the quantum dynamics of the central spin model in a regime where the central spin and bath are slaved to each other. The exact solution is found when the bath is static, and is compared with the effect of an external field, finding that they are inequivalent due to the quantum nature of the environment. When the bath has dynamics, we analyze the differences between the numerical simulation using time-dependent perturbation theory and the equation of motion technique, which shows better accuracy. We demonstrate that the use of dynamical Renormalization Group (dRG), simultaneously with the equation of motion technique, provides a suitable analytical tool to understand the physics, to capture the main physical processes, and a powerful method to eliminate secular terms. In addition, this approach allows to separate classical non-linear behavior from corrections due to quantum correlations.

We study the quantum Ising model in D dimensions with the equation of motion technique, in combination with the Majorana representation for spins. The decoupling scheme used for the Green’s functions is based on the hierarchy of correlations in position space. To lowest order this method reproduces the well known mean field phase diagram and critical exponents. When correlations between spins are included, we show how the appearance of thermal fluctuations and magnons strongly affect the physical properties. We demonstrate that in 1D and for B=0, thermal fluctuations completely destroy the ordered phase, and that near the quantum critical point, the quantum model displays different behavior than its classical counterpart. We discuss the connection with the Dyson’s equation formalism and the explicit form of the self-energies.

We study the transport properties of a topological system coupled to an AC electric field by means of Floquet-Keldysh formalism. We consider a semi-infinite chain of dimers coupled to a semi-infinite metallic lead, and obtain the density of states and current when the system is out of equilibrium. Our formalism is non-perturbative and allows us to explore, in the thermodynamic limit, a wide range of regimes for the AC field, arbitrary values of the coupling strength to the metallic contact and corrections to the wide-band limit. We find that hybridization with the contact can change the dimerization phase, and that the current dependence on the field amplitude can be used to discriminate between them. We also show the appearance of side-bands and non-equilibrium zero-energy modes, characteristic of Floquet systems. Our results directly apply to the stability of non-equilibrium topological phases, when transport measurements are used for their detection.

We derive an effective time independent Hamiltonian for the transverse Ising model coupled to a spin bath, in the presence of a high frequency AC magnetic field. We show that the spin blocking mechanism that removes the quantum phase transition can be suppressed by the AC field, allowing high tunability of the quantum critical point. Finally, we calculate the phase diagram within the RPA approximation for the case of spin $7/2$ nuclei, appropriate to the $LiHo_{x}Y_{1-x}F_{4}$ system.

We study the many-body physics of different quantum systems using a hierarchy of correlations, which corresponds to a generalization of the $1/\mathcal{Z}$ hierarchy. The decoupling scheme obtained from this hierarchy is adapted to calculate double-time Green’s functions, and due to its non-perturbative nature, we describe quantum phase transition and topological features characteristic of strongly correlated phases. As concrete examples we consider spinless fermions in a dimers chain and in a honeycomb lattice. We present analytical results which are valid for any dimension and can be generalized to different types of interactions (e.g., long range interactions), which allows us to shed light on the effect of quantum correlations in a very systematic way. Furthermore, we show that this approach provides an efficient framework for the calculation of topological invariants in interacting systems.

Floquet Majorana Fermions appear as steady states at the boundary of time-periodic topological phases of matter. In this work, we theoretically study the main features of these exotic topological phases in the periodically driven one-dimensional Kitaev model. By controlling the ac fields, we can predict new topological phase transitions that should give rise to signatures of Majorana states in experiments. Moreover, the knowledge of the time-dependence of these Majorana states allows one to manipulate them. Our work contains a complete analysis of the monochromatic driving in different frequency regimes.

We investigate the AC electric field induced quantum anomalous Hall effect in honeycomb lattices and derive the full phase diagram for arbitrary field amplitude and phase polarization. We show how to induce anti-chiral edge modes as well as topological phases characterized by a Chern number larger than $1$ by means of suitable drivings. In particular, we find that the Chern number develops plateaus as a function of the frequency, providing an time-dependent analogue to the ones in the quantum Hall effect.

Fractional Chern insulators are theoretically predicted states of electronic matter with emergent topological order. They exhibit the same universal properties as the fractional quantum Hall effect, but dispose of the need to apply a strong magnetic field. However, despite intense theoretical work, an experimental realization for these exotic states of matter is still lacking. Here we show that doped graphene turns into a fractional Chern insulator, when irradiated with high-intensity circularly polarized light. We derive the effective steady state band structure of light-driven graphene using Floquet theory and subsequently study the interacting system with exact numerical diagonalization. The fractional Chern insulator state equivalent to the 1/3 Laughlin state appears at 7/12 total filling of the honeycomb lattice (1/6 filling of the upper band). The state also features spontaneous ferromagnetism and is thus an example of the spontaneous breaking of a continuous symmetry along with a topological phase transition.

We propose a general framework to solve tight binding models in D dimensional lattices driven by ac electric fields. Our method is valid for arbitrary driving regimes and allows to obtain effective Hamiltonians for different external fields configurations. We establish an equivalence with time independent lattices in D+1 dimensions, and analyze their topological properties. Further, we demonstrate that non-adiabaticity drives a transition from topological invariants defined in D+1 to D dimensions. Our approach provides a theoretical framework to analyze ac driven systems, with potential applications in topological states of matter, and non-adiabatic topological quantum computation, predicting novel outcomes for future experiments.

In this work we study the geometrical and topological properties of non-equilibrium quantum systems driven by ac fields. We consider two tunnel coupled spin qubits driven by either spatially homogeneous or inhomogeneous ac fields. Our analysis is an extension of the classical model introduced by Berry with he addition of the spatial degree of freedom. We calculate the Berry and Aharonov-Anandan geometric phases, and demonstrate the influence of the different field parameters in the geometric properties. We also discuss the topological properties associated with the different driving regimes, and show that by tuning the different parameters one can induce topological phase transitions, even in the non-adiabatic regime.

We analyze electron dynamics and topological properties of open double quantum dots (DQDs) driven by circularly polarized ac-magnetic fields. In particular we focus on the system symmetries which can be tuned by the ac-magnetic field. Remarkably, we show that in the electron spin resonance (ESR) configuration, where the magnetic fields in each dot oscillate with a phase difference of $\pi$, charge localization occurs giving rise to transport blocking at arbitrary intensities of the ac field. The conditions for charge localization are obtained by means of Floquet theory and related with quasienergies degeneracy. We also demonstrate that a topological phase transition can be induced in the adiabatic regime for a phase difference of $\pi$, either by tuning the coupling between dots or by modifying the intensity of the driving magnetic field.

We investigate electron localization and dynamical spin locking induced by ac magnetic fields in double quantum dots. We demonstrate that by tuning the ac magnetic fields parameters, i.e., the field intensity, frequency, and the phase difference between the fields within each dot, coherent destruction of tunneling (and thus charge localization) can be achieved. We show that in contrast with ac electric fields, ac magnetic fields are able to induce spin locking, i.e., to freeze the electronic spin, at certain field parameters. We show how the symmetry of the Hamiltonian determines the quasienergy spectrum which presents degeneracies at certain field parameters, and how it is reflected in the charge and spin dynamics.