We theoretically investigate few-photon double ionization of helium in intense XUV laser fields by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. Our results show that the familiar single-ring structure in the joint electron momentum spectra is split into the double-ring and previously unobserved triple-ring structures at some specific photon energies. By tracing the electron population evolution of the corresponding states, we found that the triple-ring structure is induced by the coupled Rabi oscillations among the ground, a singly excited, and a doubly excited states. The intermediate detuning causes the asymmetry of the triple-ring structures, which can be controlled by changing the laser intensity and frequency.

We study, using a combination of experiment and theory, the excitation and decay of very-high-$n(n\sim 280\text{–}430)$ strontium autoionizing Rydberg states formed by near-resonant driving of the $5s{}^{2}S_{1/2}\to 5p{}^{2}P_{1/2}$ core-ion transition. The branching ratio between decay through radiative transitions and through autoionization is explored. Autoionization rates are measured as a function of both the $n$ and $\ell$ quantum numbers of the Rydberg electron. The nonstationary decay dynamics is studied by creating and manipulating Rydberg wave packets and by varying the laser pulse that drives the core excitation.

We explore the possibility to trap Rydberg atoms in tightly confining magnetic microtraps. The trapping frequencies for Rydberg atoms are expected to be influenced strongly by magnetic-field gradients. We show that there are regimes where Rydberg atoms can be trapped. Moreover, we show that so-called magic trapping conditions can be found for certain states of rubidium, where both Rydberg atoms and ground-state atoms have the same trapping frequencies. Magic trapping is highly beneficial for implementing quantum gate operations that require long operation times.

We study the topological properties of the two-body bound states in an interacting Haldane model as a function of interparticle interactions. In particular, we identify topological phases where the two-body edge states have either the same or the opposite chirality as compared to single-particle edge states. We highlight that in the moderately interacting regime, which is relevant for the experimental realization with ultracold atoms, the topological transition is affected by the internal structure of the bound state, and the phase boundaries are consequently deformed.

Over the past decade, the rogue wave debate has stimulated the comparison of predictions and observations among different branches of wave physics, particularly between hydrodynamics and optics, in situations where analogous dynamical behaviors can be identified, thanks to the use of common universal models. Although the scalar nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) has constantly played a central role for rogue wave investigations, moving beyond the standard NLSE model is relevant and needful for describing more general classes of physical systems and applications. In this direction, the coupled NLSEs are known to play a pivotal role for the understanding of the complex wave dynamics in hydrodynamics and optics. Benefiting from the advanced technology of high-speed telecommunication-grade components, and relying on a careful design of the nonlinear propagation of orthogonally polarized optical pump waves in a randomly birefringent telecom fiber, this work explores, both theoretically and experimentally, the rogue wave dynamics governed by such coupled NLSEs. We report, for the first time, the evidence of a group of three dark rogue waves, the so-called dark three-sister rogue waves, where experiments, numerics, and analytics show a very good consistency.

We explore theoretically the dynamical properties of a first-order dissipative phase transition in coherently driven Bose-Hubbard systems, describing, e.g., lattices of coupled nonlinear optical cavities. Via stochastic trajectory calculations based on the truncated Wigner approximation, we investigate the dynamical behavior as a function of system size for one-dimensional (1D) and 2D square lattices in the regime where mean-field theory predicts nonlinear bistability. We show that a critical slowing down emerges for increasing number of sites in 2D square lattices, while it is absent in 1D arrays. We characterize the peculiar properties of the collective phases in the critical region.

We investigate the influence of non-Hermiticity on the adiabatic elimination in coupled waveguides. We show that although the total norm of the system is not conserved in parity-time symmetric phase, the dark state intensity remains constant. However, in broken phase the eliminated waveguide loses its darkness, i.e., its field amplitude starts increasing. In both exact and broken phases, the effective Hamiltonian derived from the adiabatic elimination condition describes the dynamics of all states except the dark state. Specifically, it cannot predict the amplification in the intensity of the dark state. Our results can strengthen the control of the dynamics in cavities with active elements and improve the design of controllable absorbers.

The interaction between propagating microwave fields and Cooper-pair tunneling across a DC-voltage-biased Josephson junction can be highly nonlinear. We show theoretically that this nonlinearity can be used to convert an incoming single microwave photon into an outgoing $n$-photon Fock state in a different mode. In this process, the electrostatic energy released in a Cooper-pair tunneling event is transferred to the outgoing Fock state, providing energy gain. The created multiphoton Fock state is frequency entangled and highly bunched. The conversion can be made reflectionless (impedance matched) so that all incoming photons are converted to $n$-photon states. With realistic parameters, multiplication ratios $n>2$ can be reached. By two consecutive multiplications, the outgoing Fock-state number can get sufficiently large to accurately discriminate it from vacuum with linear postamplification and power measurement. Therefore, this amplification scheme can be used as a single-photon detector without dead time.

Quantum memory for the nonclassical state of light and entanglement among multiple remote quantum nodes hold promise for a large-scale quantum network, however, continuous-variable (CV) memory efficiency and entangled degree are limited due to imperfect implementation. Here we propose a scheme to deterministically entangle multiple distant atomic ensembles based on CV cavity-enhanced quantum memory. The memory efficiency can be improved with the help of cavity-enhanced electromagnetically induced transparency dynamics. A high degree of entanglement among multiple atomic ensembles can be obtained by mapping the quantum state from multiple entangled optical modes into a collection of atomic spin waves inside optical cavities. Besides being of interest in terms of unconditional entanglement among multiple macroscopic objects, our scheme paves the way towards the practical application of quantum networks.

At nonzero temperature classical systems exhibit statistical fluctuations of thermodynamic quantities arising from the variation of the system's initial conditions and its interaction with the environment. The fluctuating work, for example, is characterized by the ensemble of system trajectories in phase space and, by including the probabilities for various trajectories to occur, a work distribution can be constructed. However, without phase-space trajectories, the task of constructing a work probability distribution in the quantum regime has proven elusive. Here we use quantum trajectories in phase space and define fluctuating work as power integrated along the trajectories, in complete analogy to classical statistical physics. The resulting work probability distribution is valid for any quantum evolution, including cases with coherences in the energy basis. We demonstrate the quantum work probability distribution and its properties with an exactly solvable example of a driven quantum harmonic oscillator. An important feature of the work distribution is its dependence on the initial statistical mixture of pure states, which is reflected in higher moments of the work. The proposed approach introduces a fundamentally different perspective on quantum thermodynamics, allowing full thermodynamic characterization of the dynamics of quantum systems, including the measurement process.

We generalize the two-center convergent close-coupling approach of Kadyrov and Bray [Phys. Rev. A 66, 012710 (2002)] for positron scattering on neutral targets to charged targets, and apply it to positron scattering on the singly charged helium ion. Where possible internal consistency checks are used to validate the two-center method, which required a significant redevelopment of the positronium-formation matrix elements, by comparison with a single-center approach. Only the two-center approach explicitly yields positronium formation, and so it also provides a mechanism to calculate positronium scattering on $\alpha$ particles. As yet there are no experiments for the calculated processes, but there are some previous theoretical calculations, with which comparison is mixed.

We investigate tunneling ionization of a single active electron with a strong and short laser pulse, circularly polarized. With the recently proposed backpropagation method, we can compare different criteria for the tunnel exit as well as popular approximations in strong-field physics on the same footing. Thereby, we trace back discrepancies in the literature regarding the tunneling time to inconsistent tunneling exit criteria. The main source of error is the use of a static ionization potential, which is, however, time dependent for a short laser pulse. A vanishing velocity in the instantaneous field direction as tunneling exit criterion offers a consistent alternative, since it does not require the knowledge of the instantaneous binding energy. Finally, we propose a mapping technique that links observables from attoclock experiments to the intrinsic tunneling exit time.

A 160-ps near-Gaussian, linearly polarized laser pulse is used to align iodine (${\mathrm{I}}_2$) molecules embedded in helium nanodroplets. The rise time of the laser pulse is sufficiently long and smooth that the alignment, characterized by $\langle {cos}^2{\theta }_{2\mathrm{D}}\rangle$, behaves adiabatically during the pulse turnon. However, after the laser pulse has turned off $\langle {cos}^2{\theta }_{2\mathrm{D}}\rangle$ stays above 0.50 and a recurrence structure occurs ∼650 ps later. Measurements on isolated (${\mathrm{I}}_2$) molecules with identical laser pulses are used to identify, through analysis of the observed half- and full-rotational revivals, that the nonadiabatic postpulse alignment dynamics results from a mild truncation of the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This truncation establishes a well-defined starting time for coherent rotation, which leads to the revival structures observed both for isolated molecules and molecules in He droplets. In the latter case the time-dependent $\langle {cos}^2{\theta }_{2\mathrm{D}}\rangle$ trace recorded here is compared to that obtained previously for a 450-fs alignment pulse. It is found that the observed revivals are very similar.

A Bose-Einstein condensate confined in ring shaped lattices interrupted by a weak link and pierced by an effective magnetic flux defines the atomic counterpart of the superconducting quantum interference device: the atomtronic quantum interference device (AQUID). In this paper, we report on the detection of current states in the system through a self-heterodyne protocol. Following the original proposal of the NIST and Paris groups, the ring-condensate many-body wave function interferes with a reference condensate expanding from the center of the ring. We focus on the rf AQUID which realizes effective qubit dynamics. Both the Bose-Hubbard and Gross-Pitaevskii dynamics are studied. For the Bose-Hubbard dynamics, we demonstrate that the self-heterodyne protocol can be applied, but higher-order correlations in the evolution of the interfering condensates are measured to readout of the current states of the system. We study how states with macroscopic quantum coherence can be told apart analyzing the noise in the time of flight of the ring condensate.

The realization of the Hofstadter model in a strongly anisotropic ladder geometry has now become possible in one-dimensional optical lattices with a synthetic dimension. In this work, we show how the Hofstadter Hamiltonian in such ladder configurations hosts a topological phase of matter which is radically different from its two-dimensional counterpart. This topological phase stems directly from the hybrid nature of the ladder geometry and is protected by a properly defined inversion symmetry. We start our analysis by considering the paradigmatic case of a three-leg ladder which supports a topological phase exhibiting the typical features of topological states in one dimension: robust fermionic edge modes, a degenerate entanglement spectrum, and a nonzero Zak phase; then, we generalize our findings—addressable in the state-of-the-art cold-atom experiments—to ladders with a higher number of legs.

We characterize properties of the so-called repulsive polaron across the recently discovered orbital Feshbach resonance in alkaline-earth-metal-like atoms. Being a metastable quasiparticle excitation at the positive energy, the repulsive polaron is induced by the interaction between an impurity atom and a Fermi sea. By analyzing in detail the energy, the polaron residue, the effective mass, and the decay rate of the repulsive polaron, we reveal interesting features that are intimately related to the two-channel nature of the orbital Feshbach resonance. In particular, we find that the lifetime of the repulsive polaron is nonmonotonic in the Zeeman-field detuning between the two channels, and has a maximum on the BEC-side of the resonance. Further, by considering the stability of a mixture of the impurity and the majority atoms against phase separation, we show that the itinerant ferromagnetism may exist near the orbital Feshbach resonance at appropriate densities. Our results can be readily probed experimentally, and have interesting implications for the observation of itinerant ferromagnetism near an orbital Feshbach resonance.

It was recently found that excited states of semivortex and mixed-mode solitons are unstable in spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) with contact interactions. We demonstrate a possibility to stabilize such excited states in a setting based on repulsive dipole-dipole interactions induced by a polarizing field, oriented perpendicular to the plane in which the dipolar BEC is trapped. The strength of the field is assumed to grow in the radial direction $\sim r^4$. Excited states of semivortex solitons have vorticities $S$ and $S+1$ in their two components, each being an eigenstate of the angular momentum. They are fully stable up to $S=5$. The excited state of mixed-mode solitons feature interweaving necklace structures with opposite fractional values of the angular momentum in the two components. They are stable if they are built of dominant angular harmonics $\pm S$, with $S\le 4$. The characteristics and stability of these two types of previously unknown higher-order solitons are systematically analyzed. Their characteristic size is $\sim 10\mu \mathrm{m}$, with the number of atoms $\lesssim {10}^5$.

We propose a superconducting circuit to implement a two-photon quantum Rabi model in a solid-state device, where a qubit and a resonator are coupled by a two-photon interaction. We analyze the input-output relations for this circuit in the strong-coupling regime and find that fundamental quantum-optical phenomena are qualitatively modified. For instance, two-photon interactions are shown to yield a single- or two-photon blockade when a pumping field is either applied to the cavity mode or to the qubit, respectively. In addition, we derive an effective Hamiltonian for perturbative ultrastrong two-photon couplings in the dispersive regime, where two-photon interactions introduce a qubit-state-dependent Kerr term. Finally, we analyze the spectral collapse of the multiqubit two-photon quantum Rabi model and find a scaling of the critical coupling with the number of qubits. Using realistic parameters with the circuit proposed, three qubits are sufficient to reach the collapse point.

According to the geometric characterization of measurement assemblages and local hidden state (LHS) models, we propose a steering criterion which is both necessary and sufficient for two-qubit states under arbitrary measurement sets. A quantity is introduced to describe the required local resources to reconstruct a measurement assemblage for two-qubit states. We show that the quantity can be regarded as a quantification of steerability and be used to find out optimal LHS models. Finally we propose a method to generate unsteerable states, and construct some two-qubit states which are entangled but unsteerable under all projective measurements.