We analyze the nonlinear propagation of a one-dimensional Airy beam. Under nonlinear focusing conditions, the Airy beam splits into a weak accelerating structure and a beam that has been named an “off-shooting soliton.” Experimental measurements and numerical results related to the off-shooting Airy beam are compared to soliton theoretical profiles and a good agreement is found in terms of transverse shape, width, and amplitude. We identify the different parameters to generate an Airy beam off-shooting soliton and demonstrate that its profile is also preserved through propagation over long distances.

We consider superconducting circuits for the purpose of simulating the spin-boson model. The spin-boson model consists of a single two-level system coupled to bosonic modes. In most cases, the model is considered in a limit where the bosonic modes are sufficiently dense to form a continuous spectral bath. A very well known case is the Ohmic bath, where the density of states grows linearly with the frequency. In the limit of weak coupling or large temperature, this problem can be solved numerically. If the coupling is strong, the bosonic modes can become sufficiently excited to make a classical simulation impossible. Here we discuss how a quantum simulation of this problem can be performed by coupling a superconducting qubit to a set of microwave resonators. We demonstrate a possible implementation of a continuous spectral bath with individual bath resonators coupling strongly to the qubit. Applying a microwave drive scheme potentially allows us to access the strong-coupling regime of the spin-boson model. We discuss how the resulting spin relaxation dynamics with different initialization conditions can be probed by standard qubit-readout techniques from circuit quantum electrodynamics.

The non-Born-Oppenheimer quantum dynamics of $pp\mu$ and $pd\mu$ molecular ions excited by ultrashort, superintense VUV laser pulses polarized along the molecular axis ($z$) is studied by the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation within a three-dimensional (3D) model, including the internuclear distance $R$ and muon coordinates $z$ and $\rho$, a transversal degree of freedom. It is shown that in both $pp\mu$ and $pd\mu$, muons approximately follow the applied laser field out of phase. After the end of the laser pulse, expectation values $\langle z\rangle$, $\langle \rho \rangle$, and $\langle R\rangle$ demonstrate “post-laser-pulse” oscillations in both $pp\mu$ and $pd\mu$. In the case of $pd\mu$, the post-laser-pulse oscillations of $\langle z\rangle$ and $\langle R\rangle$ appear as shaped “echo pulses.” Power spectra, which are related to high-order harmonic generation (HHG), generated due to muonic and nuclear motion are calculated in the acceleration form. For $pd\mu$ it is found that there exists a unique characteristic frequency ${\omega }_{\mathrm{osc}}^{pd\mu }$ representing both frequencies of post-laser-pulse muonic oscillations and the frequency of nuclear vibrations, which manifest themselves by very sharp maxima in the corresponding power spectra of $pd\mu$. The homonuclear $pp\mu$ ion does not possess such a unique characteristic frequency. The “exact” dynamics and power, and HHG spectra of the 3D model are compared with a Born-Oppenheimer, fixed-nuclei model featuring interesting differences: postpulse oscillations are absent and HHG spectra are affected indirectly or directly by nuclear motion.

The existence and dynamics of solitons in quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and attractive two-body interactions are described for two coupled atomic pseudospin components with slowly and rapidly varying time-dependent Raman frequency. By varying the Raman frequency linearly in time, it was shown that ordinary nonlinear Schrödinger-type bright solitons can be converted to striped bright solitons, and vice versa. The internal Josephson oscillations between atom number of the coupled soliton components and the corresponding center-of-mass motion are studied for different parameter configurations. In this case, a mechanism to control the soliton parameters is proposed by considering parametric resonances, which can emerge when using time-varying Raman frequencies. Full-numerical simulations confirm variational analysis predictions when applied to the region where regular solitons are expected. In the limit of high frequencies, the system is described by a time-averaged Gross-Pitaevskii formalism with renormalized nonlinear and SOC parameters and modified phase-dependent nonlinearities. By comparing full-numerical simulations with averaged results, we have also studied the lower limits for the frequency of Raman oscillations in order to obtain stable soliton solutions.

We examine the breathing mode of a strongly interacting two-dimensional Fermi gas and the role of temperature on the anomalous breaking of scale invariance. By calculating the equation of state with different many-body $T$-matrix theories and the virial expansion, we obtain a hydrodynamic equation of the harmonically trapped Fermi gas (with trapping frequency ${\omega }_0$) through the local density approximation. By solving the hydrodynamic equations, we determine the breathing mode frequencies as a function of interaction strength and temperature. We find that the breathing mode anomaly depends sensitively on both interaction strength and temperature. In particular, in the strongly interacting regime, we predict a significant downshift of the breathing mode frequency, below the scale invariant value of $2{\omega }_0$, for temperatures of the order of the Fermi temperature.

The algebraic quantification of nonclassicality, which naturally arises from the quantum superposition principle, is related to properties of regular nonclassicality quasiprobabilities. The latter are obtained by non-Gaussian filtering of the Glauber-Sudarshan $P$ function. They yield lower bounds for the degree of nonclassicality. We also derive bounds for convex combinations of Gaussian states for certifying quantum non-Gaussianity directly from the experimentally accessible nonclassicality quasiprobabilities. Other quantum-state representations, such as $s$-parametrized quasiprobabilities, insufficiently indicate or even fail to directly uncover detailed information on the properties of quantum states. As an example, our approach is applied to multi-photon-added squeezed vacuum states.

A nonrelativistic Hamiltonian describing interaction between a mechanical degree of freedom and radiation pressure is commonly used as an ultimate tool for studying system behavior in optomechanics. This Hamiltonian is derived from the equation of motion of a mechanical degree of freedom and the optical wave equation with time-varying boundary conditions. We show that this approach is deficient for studying higher-order nonlinear effects in an open resonant optomechanical system. Optomechanical interaction induces a large mechanical nonlinearity resulting from a strong dependence of the power of the light confined in the optical cavity on the mechanical degrees of freedom of the cavity due to coupling with electromagnetic continuum. This dissipative nonlinearity cannot be inferred from the standard Hamiltonian formalism.

We unveil the geometrical meaning of winding number and utilize it to characterize the topological phases in one-dimensional chiral non-Hermitian systems. While chiral symmetry ensures the winding number of Hermitian systems are integers, it can take half integers for non-Hermitian systems. We give a geometrical interpretation of the half integers by demonstrating that the winding number $\nu$ of a non-Hermitian system is equal to half of the summation of two winding numbers ${\nu }_1$ and ${\nu }_2$ associated with two exceptional points, respectively. The winding numbers ${\nu }_1$ and ${\nu }_2$ represent the times of the real part of the Hamiltonian in momentum space encircling the exceptional points and can only take integers. We further find that the difference of ${\nu }_1$ and ${\nu }_2$ is related to the second winding number or energy vorticity. By applying our scheme to a non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and an extended version of it, we show that the topologically different phases can be well characterized by winding numbers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the existence of left and right zero-mode edge states is closely related to the winding number ${\nu }_1$ and ${\nu }_2$.

We use network analysis to describe and characterize an archetypal quantum system—an Ising spin chain in a transverse magnetic field. We analyze weighted networks for this quantum system, with link weights given by various measures of spin-spin correlations such as the von Neumann and Rényi mutual information, concurrence, and negativity. We analytically calculate the spin-spin correlations in the system at an arbitrary temperature by mapping the Ising spin chain to fermions, as well as numerically calculate the correlations in the ground state using matrix product state methods, and then analyze the resulting networks using a variety of network measures. We demonstrate that the network measures show some traits of complex networks already in this spin chain, arguably the simplest quantum many-body system. The network measures give insight into the phase diagram not easily captured by more typical quantities, such as the order parameter or correlation length. For example, the network structure varies with transverse field and temperature, and the structure in the quantum critical fan is different from the ordered and disordered phases.

Interactions in quantum systems may induce transitions to exotic correlated phases of matter which can be vulnerable to coupling to an environment. Here, we study the stability of a Bose-Hubbard chain coupled to a bosonic bath at zero and nonzero temperature. We show that only above a critical interaction the chain loses bosons and its properties are significantly affected. The transition is of a different nature than the superfluid–Mott-insulator transition and occurs at a different critical interaction. We explain such a stable-unstable transition by the opening of a global charge gap. The comparison of accurate matrix product state simulations to approximative approaches that miss this transition reveals its many-body origin.

We perform a Schrieffer-Wolff transformation to the two-photon Dicke model by keeping the leading-order correction with a quartic term of the field, which is crucial for finite-size scaling analysis. Besides a spectral collapse as a consequence of two-photon interaction, the super-radiant phase transition is indicated by the vanishing of the excitation energy and the uniform atomic polarization. The scaling functions for the ground-state energy and the atomic pseudospin are derived analytically. The scaling exponents of the observables are the same as those in the standard Dicke model, indicating they are in the same universality class.

We address the emergence of entropy production in the nonequilibrium process of an open quantum system from the viewpoint of the environment. By making use of a dilation-based approach akin to the Stinespring theorem, we derive an expression for the entropy production that comprises two fundamental contributions. The first is linked to the rate of the creation of correlations between the system and environment whereas the second highlights the possibility for the environment to modify its state in light of its coupling to the system. Both terms are shown to be associated with irreversible currents within the system and the environment, which pinpoint the emergence of irreversibility in the Markovian limit. Finally, we discuss how such a change of perspective in the study of entropy production has fecund implications for the study of non-Markovian open-system dynamics.

We analyze the physics of optimal protocols to prepare a target state with high fidelity in a symmetrically coupled two-qubit system. By varying the protocol duration, we find a discontinuous phase transition, which is characterized by a spontaneous breaking of a ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ symmetry in the functional form of the optimal protocol, and occurs below the quantum speed limit. We study in detail this phase and demonstrate that even though high-fidelity protocols come degenerate with respect to their fidelity, they lead to final states of different entanglement entropy shared between the qubits. Consequently, while globally both optimal protocols are equally far away from the target state, one is locally closer than the other. An approximate variational mean-field theory which captures the physics of the different phases is developed.

Reciprocal pairs of quantum channels are defined as completely positive transformations which admit a rigid, distance-preserving, yet not completely positive transformation that allows one to reproduce the outcome of one from the corresponding outcome of the other. From a classical perspective these transmission lines should exhibit the same communication efficiency. This is no longer the case in the quantum setting: explicit asymmetric behaviors are reported studying the classical communication capacities of reciprocal pairs of depolarizing and Weyl-covariant channels.

We propose an efficient scheme for transferring quantum states and generating entangled states between two qubits of different nature. The hybrid system consists of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center and a superconducting (SC) qubit, which couple to an optical cavity and a microwave resonator, respectively. Meanwhile, the optical cavity and the microwave resonator are coupled via the electro-optic effect. By adjusting the relative parameters, we can achieve high-fidelity quantum state transfer as well as highly entangled states between the NV center and the SC qubit. This protocol is within the reach of currently available techniques, and may provide interesting applications in quantum communication and computation with single NV centers and SC qubits.

Exchange and correlations play a particularly important role in positronium (Ps) collisions with atoms and molecules, since the static potential for Ps interaction with a neutral system is zero. Theoretical description of both effects is a very challenging task. In the present work we use the free-electron-gas model to describe exchange and correlations in Ps collisions with molecules similar to the approach widely used in the theory of electron-molecule collisions. The results for exchange and correlation energies are presented as functions of the Fermi momentum of the electron gas and the Ps incident energy. Using the Thomas-Fermi model, these functions can be converted into exchange and correlation potentials for Ps interaction with molecules as functions of the distance between the projectile and the target.

For many atomic and molecular targets positronium (Ps) scattering looks very similar to electron scattering if total scattering cross sections are plotted as functions of the projectile velocity. Recently this similarity was observed for the resonant scattering by the ${\mathrm{N}}_2$ molecule. For correct treatment of Ps-molecule scattering incorporation of the exchange interaction and short-range correlations is of paramount importance. In the present work we have used a free-electron-gas model to describe these interactions in collisions of Ps with the ${\mathrm{N}}_2$ molecule. The results agree reasonably well with the experiment, but the position of the resonance is somewhat shifted towards lower energies, probably due to the fixed-nuclei approximation employed in the calculations. The partial-wave analysis of the resonant peak shows that its composition is more complex than in the case of $e-{\mathrm{N}}_2$ scattering.

We analyze the doubly differential electron momentum distribution in above-threshold ionization of atomic hydrogen by a linearly polarized mid-infrared laser pulse. We reproduce side rings in the momentum distribution with forward-backward symmetry previously observed by Lemell et al. [Phys. Rev. A 87, 013421 (2013)], whose origin, as far as we know, has not been explained so far. By developing a Fourier theory of moiré patterns, we demonstrate that such structures stem from the interplay between intra- and intercycle interference patterns which work as two separate grids in the two-dimensional momentum domain. We use a three-dimensional (3D) description based on the saddle-point approximation (SPA) to unravel the nature of these structures. When the periods of the two grids (intra- and intercycle) are similar, principal moiré patterns arise symmetrically as concentric rings in the forward and backward directions at high electron kinetic energy. Higher order moiré patterns are observed and characterized when the period of one grid is multiple of the other. We find a scale law for the position (in momentum space) of the center of the moiré rings in the tunneling regime. We verify the SPA predictions by comparison with time-dependent distorted-wave strong-field approximation calculations and the solutions of the full 3D time-dependent Schrödinger equation.