Publications from 2015

We introduce a lattice model of interacting spins and bosons that leads to Luttinger-liquid physics, and allows for quantitative tests of the theory of bosonization by means of trapped-ion or superconducting-circuit experiments. By using a variational bosonization ansatz, we calculate the power-law decay of spin and boson correlation functions, and study their dependence on a single tunable parameter, namely a bosonic driving. For small drivings, Matrix-Product-States (MPS) numerical methods are shown to be efficient and validate our ansatz. Conversely, even static MPS become inefficient for large-driving regimes, such that the experiment can potentially outperform classical numerics, achieving one of the goals of quantum simulations.

We introduce a scheme that combines photon-assisted tunneling by a moving optical lattice with strong Hubbard interactions, and allows for the quantum simulation of paradigmatic quantum many-body models. We show that, in a certain regime, this quantum simulator yields an effective Hubbard Hamiltonian with tunable bond-charge interactions, a model studied in the context of strongly-correlated electrons. In a different regime, we show how to exploit a correlated destruction of tunneling to explore Nagaoka ferromagnetism at finite Hubbard repulsion. By changing the photon-assisted tunneling parameters, we can also obtain a t-J model with independently controllable tunneling t, super-exchange interaction J, and even a Heisenberg-Ising anisotropy. Hence, the full phase diagram of this paradigmatic model becomes accessible to cold-atom experiments, departing from the region t≫J allowed by standard single-band Hubbard Hamiltonians in the strong-repulsion limit. We finally show that, by generalizing the photon-assisted tunneling scheme, the quantum simulator yields models of dynamical Gauge fields, where atoms of a given electronic state dress the tunneling of the atoms with a different internal state, leading to Peierls phases that mimic a dynamical magnetic field.

We study the spontaneous emission of a qubit interacting with a one-dimensional waveguide through a realistic minimal-coupling interaction. We show that the diamagnetic term A2 leads to an effective decoupling of a single qubit from the electromagnetic field. This effects is observable at any range of qubit-photon couplings. For this we study a setup consisting of a transmon that is suspended over a transmission line. We prove that the relative strength of the A2 term is controlled with the qubit-line separation and show that, as a consequence, the spontaneous emission rate of the suspended transmon onto the line can increase with such separation, instead of decreasing.

We study a hybrid quantum system composed of an ion and an electric dipole. We show how a trapped ion can be used to measure the small electric field generated by a classical dipole. We discuss the application of this scheme to measure the electric dipole moment of cold polar molecules, whose internal state can be controlled with ultrafast laser pulses, by trapping them in the vicinity of a trapped ion

In this work we study numerically and analytically the interaction of two qubits in a one-dimensional waveguide, as mediated by the photons that propagate through the guide. We develop strategies to assert the Markovianity of the problem, the effective qubit-qubit interactions and their individual and collective spontaneous emission. We prove the existence of collective Lamb-shifts that affect the qubit-qubit interactions and the dependency of coherent and incoherent interactions on the qubit separation. We also develop the scattering theory associated to these models and prove single photon spectroscopy does probes the renormalized resonances of the single- and multi-qubit models, in sharp contrast with earlier toy models where individual and collective Lamb shifts cancel.

We propose a scheme for quantum estimation by means of parametric amplification in circuit Quantum Electrodynamics. The modulation of a SQUID interrupting a superconducting waveguide transforms an initial thermal two-mode squeezed state in such a way that the new state is sensitive to the features of the parametric amplifier. We find the optimal initial parameters which maximize the Quantum Fisher Information. In order to achieve a large number of independent measurements we propose to use an array of non-interacting resonators. We show that the combination of both large QFI and large number of measurements enables -in principle- the use of this setup for Quantum Metrology applications.

In this work we proof that boson sampling with $N$ particles in $M$ modes is equivalent to short-time evolution with $N$ excitations in an XY model of $2N$ spins. This mapping is efficient whenever the boson bunching probability is small, and errors can be efficiently postselected. This mapping opens the door to boson sampling with quantum simulators or general purpose quantum computers, and highlights the complexity of time-evolution with critical spin models, even for very short times.

A superconducting qubit coupled to an open transmission line represents an implementation of the spin-boson model with a broadband environment. We show that this environment can be engineered by introducing partial reflectors into the transmission line, allowing to shape the spectral function, J({\omega}), of the spin-boson model. The spectral function can be accessed by measuring the resonance fluorescence of the qubit, which provides information on both the engineered environment and the coupling between qubit and transmission line. The spectral function of a transmission line without partial reflectors is found to be Ohmic over a wide frequency range, whereas a peaked spectral density is found for the shaped environment. Our work lays the ground for future quantum simulations of other, more involved, impurity models with superconducting circuits.

We demonstrate that stationary localized solutions (discrete solitons) exist in a one dimensional Bose-Hubbard lattices with gain and loss in the semiclassical regime. Stationary solutions, by defi- nition, are robust and do not demand for state preparation. Losses, unavoidable in experiments, are not a drawback, but a necessary ingredient for these modes to exist. The semiclassical calculations are complemented with their classical limit and dynamics based on a Gutzwiller Ansatz. We argue that circuit QED architectures are ideal platforms for realizing the physics developed here. Finally, within the input-output formalism, we explain how to experimentally access the different phases, including the solitons, of the chain.

The stationary properties of the Bose-Hubbard model under squeezed dissipation are investigated. The dissipative model does not possess a U(1) symmetry, but parity is conserved: ⟨aj⟩→−⟨aj⟩. We find that ⟨aj⟩=0 always holds, so no symmetry breaking occurs. Without the onsite repulsion, the linear case is known to be critical. At the critical point the system freezes to an EPR state with infinite two mode entanglement. We show here that the correlations are rapidly destroyed whenever the repulsion is switched on. Then, the system approaches a thermal state with an effective temperature defined in terms of the squeezing parameter in the dissipators. We characterize this transition by means of a Gutzwiller {\it ansatz} and the Gaussian Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation.

We describe a family of lattice models that support a new class of quantum magnetism characterized by correlated spin and bosonic ordering [Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 180405 (2014)]. We explore the full phase diagram of the model using Matrix-Product-State methods. Guided by these numerical results, we describe a modified variational ansatz to improve our analytic description of the groundstate at low boson frequencies. Additionally, we introduce an experimental protocol capable of inferring the low-energy excitations of the system by means of Fano scattering spectroscopy. Finally, we discuss the implementation and characterization of this model with current circuit-QED technology.

We realize a device allowing for tunable and switchable coupling between two frequency-degenerate superconducting resonators mediated by an artificial atom. For the latter, we utilize a persistent current flux qubit. We characterize the tunable and switchable coupling in the frequency and time domains and find that the coupling between the relevant modes can be varied in a controlled way. Specifically, the coupling can be tuned by adjusting the flux through the qubit loop or by controlling the qubit population via a microwave drive. Our measurements allow us to find parameter regimes for optimal coupler performance and quantify the tunability range.