We perform electromagnetic wave simulations of fully three-dimensional optical limaçon microcavities, on the basis of their future applications in microlasers and photonic devices. The analysis of the three-dimensional modes and far fields reveals an increase of the quality factors as compared to the two-dimensional case. The structure of the far field in the third dimension shows pronounced maxima in the emission directionality inclined to the resonator plane which may be exploited for coupling the resonator modes to the environment. This triggers ideas for technical applications, such as the suggested sensor that can detect small changes in the environment based on changes in the emission profile.

Postselection strategies have been proposed with the aim of amplifying weak signals, which may help to overcome detection thresholds associated with technical noise in high-precision measurements. Here we use an optical setup to experimentally explore two different postselection protocols for the estimation of a small parameter: a weak-value amplification procedure and an alternative method that does not provide amplification but nonetheless is shown to be more robust for the sake of parameter estimation. Each technique leads approximately to the saturation of quantum limits for the estimation precision, expressed by the Cramér-Rao bound. For both situations, we show that parameter estimation is improved when the postselection statistics are considered together with the measurement device.

Quantum systems can display particle- or wavelike properties, depending on the type of measurement that is performed on them. The Bell-state quantum eraser is an experiment that brings the duality to the forefront, as a single measurement can retroactively be made to measure particlelike or wavelike properties (or anything in between). Here we develop a unitary information-theoretic description of this and several related quantum measurement situations that sheds light on the trade-off between the quantum and classical features of the measurement. In particular, we show that both the coherence of the quantum state and the classical information obtained from it can be described using only quantum-information-theoretic tools and that those two measures satisfy an equality on account of the chain rule for entropies. The coherence information and the which-path information have simple interpretations in terms of state preparation and state determination and suggest ways to account for the relationship between the classical and the quantum world.

The implementation of a scalable quantum computer requires quantum error correction (QEC). An important step toward this goal is to demonstrate the effectiveness of QEC where the fidelity of an encoded qubit is higher than that of the physical qubits. Therefore, it is important to know the conditions under which QEC code is effective. In this study, we analyze the simple three-qubit and nine-qubit QEC codes for quantum-dot and superconductor qubit implementations. First, we carefully analyze QEC codes and find the specific range of memory time to show the effectiveness of QEC and the best QEC cycle time. Second, we run a detailed error simulation of the chosen error-correction codes in the amplitude damping channel and confirm that the simulation data agreed well with the theoretically predicted accuracy and minimum QEC cycle time. We also realize that since the swap gate worked rapidly on the quantum-dot qubit, it did not affect the performance in terms of the spatial layout.

In this paper, the Bose-Hubbard model (BHM) with the nearest-neighbor (NN) repulsions is studied from the viewpoint of possible bosonic analogs of the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state in the vicinity of the Mott insulator (MI). First, by means of the Gutzwiller approximation, we obtain the phase diagram of the BHM in a magnetic field. Then, we introduce an effective Hamiltonian describing excess particles on a MI and calculate the vortex density, momentum distribution, and the energy gap. These calculations indicate that the vortex solid forms for small NN repulsions, but a homogeneous featureless “Bose metal” takes the place of it as the NN repulsion increases. We consider particular filling factors at which the bosonic FQH state is expected to form. Chern-Simons (CS) gauge theory to the excess particle is introduced, and a modified Gutzwiller wave function, which describes bosons with attached flux quanta, is introduced. The energy of the excess particles in the bosonic FQH state is calculated using that wave function, and it is compared with the energy of the vortex solid and Bose metal. We found that the energy of the bosonic FQH state is lower than that of the Bose metal and comparable with the vortex solid. Finally, we clarify the condition that the composite fermion appears by using CS theory on the lattice that we previously proposed for studying the electron FQH effect.

We theoretically explore the quantum correlation properties of a dissipative Bose-Hubbard dimer in the presence of a coherent drive. In particular, we focus on the regime where the semiclassical theory predicts a bifurcation with a spontaneous spatial symmetry breaking. The critical behavior in a well-defined thermodynamical limit of large excitation numbers is considered and analyzed within a Gaussian approach. The case of a finite boson density is also examined by numerically integrating the Lindblad master equation for the density matrix. We predict the critical behavior around the bifurcation points accompanied by large quantum correlations of the mixed steady state, in particular, exhibiting a peak in the logarithmic entanglement negativity.

It has been proposed and demonstrated that lasing and coherent perfect absorption (CPA or “antilasing”) coexist in parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetric photonic systems. In this work we show that the spectral signature of such a CPA laser displayed by the singular value spectrum of the scattering matrix ($S$) can be orders of magnitude wider than that displayed by the eigenvalue spectrum of $S$. Since the former reflects how strongly light can be absorbed or amplified and the latter announces the spontaneous symmetry breaking of $S$, these contrasting spectral signatures indicate that near perfect absorption and extremely strong amplification can be achieved even in the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phase of $S$, which is known for and defined by its flux-conserving eigenstates. We also show that these contrasting spectral signatures are accompanied by strikingly different sensitivities to disorder and imperfection, suggesting that the eigenvalue spectrum is potentially suitable for sensing and the singular value spectrum for robust switching. A differential light amplifier may also be devised based on these two spectra.

The classical radio-frequency antenna theory indicates that large cross sections can be realized through directional radiation. In this paper, a similar principle is applied in quantum systems, in which quantum antennas, constructed by a cluster of quantum two-level systems, explore the collective excitation of two-level systems to realize large directivity. Both the optical cross section and the coherent time can be dramatically enhanced in free space, far exceeding the case of a single two-level system.

In quantum sensing and metrology, an important class of measurement is the continuous linear measurement, in which the detector is coupled to the system of interest linearly and continuously in time. One key aspect involved is the quantum noise of the detector, arising from quantum fluctuations in the detector input and output. It determines how fast we acquire information about the system and also influences the system evolution in terms of measurement backaction. We therefore often categorize it as the so-called imprecision noise and quantum backaction noise. There is a general Heisenberg-like uncertainty relation that constrains the magnitude of and the correlation between these two types of quantum noise. The main result of this paper is to show that, when the detector becomes ideal, i.e., at the quantum limit with minimum uncertainty, not only does the uncertainty relation takes the equal sign as expected, but also there are two new equalities. This general result is illustrated by using the typical cavity QED setup with the system being either a qubit or a mechanical oscillator. Particularly, the dispersive readout of a qubit state, and the measurement of mechanical motional sideband asymmetry are considered.

We show that one can determine both parameters of a displacement acting on an oscillator with an accuracy which scales inversely with the square root of the number of photons in the oscillator. Our results are obtained by using a grid state as a sensor state for detecting small translations in phase space (displacements). Grid states were first proposed [D. Gottesman et al., Phys. Rev. A 64, 012310 (2001)] for encoding a qubit into an oscillator: an efficient preparation protocol of such states, using a coupling to a qubit, was later developed [B. M. Terhal and D. Weigand, Phys. Rev. A 93, 012315 (2016)]. We compare the performance of the grid state with the quantum compass or cat code state and place our results in the context of the two-parameter quantum Cramér-Rao lower bound on the variances of the displacement parameters. We show that the accessible information about the displacement for a grid state increases with the number of photons in the state when we measure and prepare the state using a phase estimation protocol. This is in contrast with the accessible information in the quantum compass state which we show is always upper bounded by a constant, independent of the number of photons. We present numerical simulations of a phase estimation based preparation protocol of a grid state in the presence of photon loss, nonlinearities, and qubit measurement, using no post-selection, showing how the two effective squeezing parameters which characterize the grid state change during the preparation. The idea behind the phase estimation protocol is a simple maximal-information gain strategy.

From the analysis of the relaxation process of isolated lattice many-body quantum systems quenched far from equilibrium, we deduce a criterion for predicting when they are certain to thermalize. It is based on the algebraic behavior $\propto t^{-\gamma }$ of the survival probability at long times. We show that the value of the power-law exponent $\gamma$ depends on the shape and filling of the weighted energy distribution of the initial state. Two scenarios are explored in detail: $\gamma \ge 2$ and $\gamma <1$. Exponents $\gamma \ge 2$ imply that the energy distribution of the initial state is ergodically filled and the eigenstates are uncorrelated, so thermalization is guaranteed to happen. In this case, the power-law behavior is caused by bounds in the energy spectrum. Decays with $\gamma <1$ emerge when the energy eigenstates are correlated and signal lack of ergodicity. They are typical of systems undergoing localization due to strong onsite disorder and are found also in clean integrable systems.

We study the ground state and the thermal phase diagram of a two-species Bose-Hubbard model, with $\text{U}\left(1\right)\times {\mathbb{Z}}_2$ symmetry, describing atoms and molecules on a two-dimensional optical lattice interacting via a Feshbach resonance. Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations and mean-field theory, we show that the conversion between the two species, coherently coupling the atomic and molecular states, has a crucial impact on the Mott-superfluid transition and stabilizes an insulating phase with a gap controlled by the conversion term—the Feshbach insulator—instead of a standard Mott-insulating phase. Depending on the detuning between atoms and molecules, this model exhibits three phases: the Feshbach insulator, a molecular condensate coexisting with noncondensed atoms, and a mixed atomic-molecular condensate. Employing finite-size scaling analysis, we observe three-dimensional (3D) $XY$ (3D Ising) transition when $\text{U}\left(1\right)$ (${\mathbb{Z}}_2$) symmetry is broken, whereas the transition is first order when both $\text{U}\left(1\right)$ and ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ symmetries are spontaneously broken. The finite-temperature phase diagram is also discussed. The thermal disappearance of the molecular superfluid leads to a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition with unusual universal jump in the superfluid density. The loss of the quasi-long-range coherence of the mixed atomic and molecular superfluid is more subtle since only atoms exhibit conventional Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless criticality. We also observe a signal compatible with a classical first-order transition between the mixed superfluid and the normal Bose liquid at low temperature.

Theoretical studies and experimental implementations of quantum correlation are the important contents of continuous variables quantum optics and quantum information science. There are various systems for the study of quantum correlation. Here, we study an experimental scheme for generating three quantum correlated beams based on phase-sensitive cascaded four-wave-mixing (FWM) processes in rubidium vapor. Quantum correlation including intensity difference or sum squeezing, two other combinatorial squeezing, and quantum entanglement among the three output light fields are theoretically analyzed in this paper. Also, the comparison of the quantum correlations have been made between the phase-sensitive cascaded FWM processes and the phase-insensitive cascaded FWM processes. By changing the phases and intensities of the input beams, it is interesting to find that the maximum degrees of various combinatorial squeezing are equal when the two FWM processes share a common intensity gain. When the common intensity gain of the two FWM processes changes, the maximum degrees of different combinatorial squeezing will be synchronously controlled. At last we discuss the genuine tripartite entanglement and steering in our phase-sensitive cascaded scheme, and compare them with the cases of the phase-insensitive cascaded scheme.

We present an extensive study of two-dimensional Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) superfluidity in a spin-imbalanced two-component atomic Fermi gas. In the context of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) phase, we explore a wide and generic class of pairing gap functions with explicit spatial dependency. The mean-field theory of such phases is applied through the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations in which the pairing gap can be determined self-consistently. To systematically explore the configuration space we consider both the canonical and grand canonical ensembles where we control the polarization or chemical potentials of the system, respectively. The mean-field calculations enable us to understand the nature of the phase transitions in the fully paired Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) state, exotic LO phase, and partially polarized free Fermi gas ($N_{\text{PP}}$). The order of the phase transitions has been examined and, in particular, we find a weak first-order phase transition between the exotic inhomogeneous LO phase and the BCS phase. In comparison to the three-dimensional case, where the phase diagram is dominated by a generic separation phase, we predict a broader parameter space for the spatially inhomogeneous LO phase. By computing the superfluid density of the LO phase at different polarization, we show how the superfluidity of the system is suppressed with increasing spin polarization.

We observe spin squeezing in three-component Bose gases where all three hyperfine states are coupled by synthetic spin-orbit coupling. This phenomenon is a direct consequence of spin-orbit coupling, as can be seen clearly from an effective spin Hamiltonian. By solving this effective model analytically with the aid of a Holstein-Primakoff transformation for a spin-1 system in the low excitation limit, we conclude that the spin-nematic squeezing, a category of spin squeezing existing exclusively in large spin systems, is enhanced with increasing spin-orbit coupling intensity and effective Zeeman field, which correspond to Rabi frequency ${\mathrm{\Omega }}_R$ and two-photon detuning $\delta$ within the Raman scheme for synthetic spin-orbit coupling, respectively. These trends of dependence are in clear contrast to spin-orbit-coupling-induced spin squeezing in spin-1/2 systems. We also analyze the effects of harmonic trap and interparticle interaction with realistic experimental parameters numerically, and find that a strong harmonic trap favors spin-nematic squeezing. We further show spin-nematic squeezing can be interpreted as two-mode entanglement or two-spin squeezing at low excitation. Our findings can be observed in ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ gases with existing techniques of synthetic spin-orbit coupling and spin-selective imaging.

We theoretically investigated the mechanism of two-mode quadrature squeezing in a regime of four-wave mixing in a $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ scheme of three-level atoms embedded in a thermal reservoir. We demonstrated that the process of nonlinear transfer of noise from the low frequency of ground state splitting to the optical frequency is significant if the number of thermal photons at the low frequency is high. We have shown that correct calculation of the two-mode squeezing level taking into account both thermal noise and distortion of dissipative properties of the thermally excited medium resulted in a simple expression for the maximum squeezing level, which is defined by the ground-state coherence decay rate and the drive-field intensity. We found the optimal conditions for squeezing, in particular, the optimal density-length product of the active medium depending on the atomic relaxation parameters and the drive-field intensity.

Under the Dirichlet boundary conditions, a family of bright quadratic solitons exists in the regime where the second harmonic can be regarded as the refractive index of the fundamental wave with an oscillatory nonlocal response. By simplifying the governing equations into the Snyder-Mitchell mode, the approximate analytical solutions are obtained. Taking them as the initial guess and using a numerical code, we found two branches of bright solitons, of which the beam width increases (branch I) and decreases (branch II) with the increase of the sample size, respectively. If the nonlocality is fixed and the sample size is varied, the soliton width varies piecewise and approximately periodically. In each period, solitons only exist in a small range of sample size. Single-hump fundamental wave solitons with the same beam width in narrower samples can be, if the second harmonics are connected smoothly, jointed to be a multihump soliton in a wider sample whose size is the sum of those for the narrower ones. The dynamical simulation shows that the found solitons are unstable.

We examine the photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) in a graphene-substrate system with the presence of an external magnetic field. In the quantum Hall regime, we demonstrate that the in-plane and transverse spin-dependent splittings in the photonic SHE exhibit different quantized behaviors. The quantized SHE can be described as a consequence of a quantized geometric phase (Berry phase), which corresponds to the quantized spin-orbit interaction. Furthermore, an experimental scheme based on quantum weak value amplification is proposed to detect the quantized SHE in the terahertz frequency regime. By incorporating the quantum weak measurement techniques, the quantized photonic SHE holds great promise for detecting quantized Hall conductivity and the Berry phase. These results may bridge the gap between the electronic SHE and photonic SHE in graphene.