Progress toward the solution of the strongly correlated electron problem has been stymied by the exponential complexity of the wave function. Previous work established an exact two-body exponential product expansion for the ground-state wave function. By developing a reduced density-matrix analog of Dalgarno-Lewis perturbation theory, we prove here that (i) the two-body exponential product expansion is rapidly and globally convergent with each operator representing an order of a renormalized perturbation theory, (ii) the energy of the expansion converges quadratically near the solution, and (iii) the expansion is exact for both ground and excited states. The two-body expansion offers a reduced parametrization of the many-particle wave function as well as the two-particle reduced density matrix with potential applications on both conventional and quantum computers for the study of strongly correlated quantum systems. We demonstrate the result with the exact solution of the contracted Schrödinger equation for the molecular chains ${\mathrm{H}}_4$ and ${\mathrm{H}}_5$.

The quantum nature of the state of a bosonic quantum field may manifest itself in its entanglement, coherence, or optical nonclassicality. Each of these distinct properties is known to be a resource for quantum computing or metrology and can be evaluated via a variety of measures, witnesses, or monotones. Here, we provide quantitative and computable bounds relating, in particular, some entanglement measures with optical nonclassicality measures. Overall, these bounds capture the fact that strongly entangled states must necessarily be strongly optically nonclassical. As an application, we infer strong bounds on the entanglement that can be produced with an optically nonclassical state impinging on a beam splitter. Then, focusing on Gaussian states, we analyze the link between the logarithmic negativity and a specific nonclassicality measure called quadrature coherence scale.

We present a quantum random number generator (QRNG) based on the random outcomes inherent in projective measurements on a superposition of quantum states of light. First, we use multiplexed holograms encoded on a spatial light modulator to spatially map down-converted photons onto a superposition of optical paths. This gives us full digital control of the mapping process which we can tailor to achieve any desired probability distribution. More importantly, we use this method to account for any bias present within our transmission and detection system, forgoing the need for time-consuming and inefficient unbiasing algorithms. Our QRNG achieved a min-entropy of $H_{\text{min}}=0.9991\pm 0.0003$ bits per photon and passed the NIST Statistical Test Suite. Furthermore, we extend our approach to realize a QRNG based on photons entangled in their orbital angular momentum (OAM) degree of freedom. This combination of digital holograms and projective measurements on arbitrary OAM combinations allowed us to generate random numbers with arbitrary distributions, in effect tailoring the system's entropy while maintaining the inherent quantum irreproducibility. Such techniques allow access to the higher-dimensional OAM Hilbert space, opening up an avenue for generating multiple random bits per photon.

We theoretically introduce and experimentally demonstrate the realization of a nonclassicality test that allows for arbitrarily low detection efficiency without invoking an extra assumption of independence of the devices. Our test and its implementation is set in a prepare-and-measure scenario with an upper limit on the classical communication capacity of the channel through which the systems are communicated. The essence for our test is the use of two preparation and two measurement devices, which are randomly paired in each round. Our work opens the possibility for experimental realizations of nonclassicality tests with off-the-shelf technology.

We demonstrate experimentally the ability of a quantum annealer to distinguish between sets of nonisomorphic graphs that share the same classical Ising spectrum. Utilizing the pause-and-quench features recently introduced into D-Wave quantum annealing processors, which allow the user to probe the quantum Hamiltonian realized in the middle of an anneal, we show that obtaining thermal averages of diagonal observables of “classically indistinguishable” nonisomorphic graphs encoded into transverse-field Ising Hamiltonians enable their discrimination. We discuss the significance of our results in the context of the graph isomorphism problem.

We unambiguously identify, in experiment and theory, an overlooked holographic interference pattern in strong-field ionization, dubbed “the spiral,” stemming from two trajectories where the potential and laser field are equally critical. Because of the strong interaction with the core of the two trajectories, the spiral could be employed as an optimal tool for probing the target after ionization and for revealing obfuscated phases in the bound states. We find that the spiral is responsible for interference carpets, formerly ascribed to direct trajectories, and that the carpet-interference condition is derived from the field symmetry. This case of mistaken identity may have prevented the spiral from being used as a holographic tool.

Recent angle-resolved experiments using reconstruction of attosecond bursts by interference of two-photon transitions (RABBITT) have shown that the photoionization time delay depends on the emission angle of the photoelectron. In this paper we demonstrate that for photoemission from helium accompanied by shake-up (correlation satellites) the angular variation of the time delay is dramatically enhanced by the dipolar coupling between the photoelectron and the highly polarizable residual ion in the IR field. We show that the additivity rule for the time delays due to the atomic potential, the continuum-continuum coupling by the IR field, and due to this two-electron process remains valid for angle-resolved RABBITT. Our results are expected to be also applicable to other multielectron systems that are highly polarizable or feature a permanent dipole moment.

Droplet states of ultracold gases which are stabilized by fluctuations have recently been observed in dipolar and two-component Bose gases. These systems present an alternate form of equilibrium where an instability at the mean-field level is arrested by higher-order correlations, making the droplet states sensitive probes of fluctuations. In a recent paper, we argued that thermal fluctuations can play an important role for droplets even at low temperatures where the noncondensed density is much smaller than the condensate density. We used the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory together with the local density approximation for fluctuations to obtain a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation and solved it with a Gaussian variational ansatz to show that the transition between the low density and droplet states can be significantly modified by the temperature. In this paper, we first solve the same GP equation numerically with a time-splitting spectral method to check the validity of the Gaussian variational ansatz. Our numerical results are in good agreement with the Gaussian ansatz for a large parameter regime and show that the density of the gas is most strongly modified by temperature near the abrupt transition between a pancake-shaped cloud and the droplet. For cigar-shaped condensates, as in the recent Er experiments, the dependence of the density on temperature remains quite small throughout the smooth transition. We then consider the effect of temperature on the collective oscillation frequencies of the droplet using both a time-dependent Gaussian variational ansatz and real-time numerical evolution. We find that the oscillation frequencies depend significantly on the temperature close to the transition for the experimentally relevant temperature regime ($\simeq 100\mathrm{nK}$).

We report on the observation of heteronuclear magnetic Feshbach resonances in several isotope mixtures of the highly magnetic elements erbium and dysprosium. Among many narrow features, we identify two resonances with a width greater than one Gauss. We characterize one of these resonances, in a mixture of ${}^{168}\mathrm{Er}$ and ${}^{164}\mathrm{Dy}$, in terms of loss rates and elastic cross section, and observe a temperature dependence of the on-resonance loss rate suggestive of a universal scaling associated with broad resonances. Our observations hold promise for the use of such a resonance for tuning the interspecies scattering properties in a dipolar mixture. We further compare the prevalence of narrow resonances in an ${}^{166}\mathrm{Er}-{}^{164}\mathrm{Dy}$ mixture to the single-species case, and observe an increased density of resonances in the mixture.

The geometric and dynamic phases have competing effects as far as the scattering of light from an inhomogeneous anisotropic optical medium is concerned. If fine-tuned appropriately, these effects can completely cancel each other for a chosen spin component while having an additive effect on the orthogonal component. Here, we show a manifestation of extraordinary spin-selective modes in the Fourier spectrum of a Gaussian beam transmitted through an anisotropic disordered medium. We realize the concept by using a twisted nematic liquid-crystal-based spatial light modulator with random gray-level distributions for an incident Gaussian beam.

We provide an efficient method for the calculation of high-gain, twin-beam generation in waveguides derived from a canonical treatment of Maxwell's equations. Equations of motion are derived that naturally accommodate photon generation via spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) or spontaneous four-wave mixing and, also, include the effects both of self-phase modulation of the pump and of cross-phase modulation of the twin beams by the pump. The equations we solve involve fields that evolve in space and are labeled by a frequency. We provide a proof that these fields satisfy bona fide commutation relations and that in the distant past and future they reduce to standard time-evolving Heisenberg operators. Having solved for the input-output relations of these Heisenberg operators we also show how to construct the ket describing the quantum state of the twin beams. Finally, we consider the example of high-gain SPDC in a waveguide with a flat nonlinearity profile, for which our approach provides an explicit solution that requires only a single matrix exponentiation.

A nonlinear phase shift is introduced to a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), and we present a scheme for enhancing the phase sensitivity. In our scheme, one input port of a standard MZI is injected with a coherent state and the other input port is injected with one mode of a two-mode squeezed-vacuum state. The final interference output of the MZI is detected with the method of active correlation output readout. Based on the optimal splitting ratio of beam splitters, the phase sensitivity can beat the standard quantum limit and approach the quantum Cramér-Rao bound. The effects of photon loss on phase sensitivity are discussed. Our scheme can also provide some estimates for units of ${\chi }^{\left(3\right)}$, due to the relation between the nonlinear phase shift and the susceptibility ${\chi }^{\left(3\right)}$ of the Kerr medium.

We investigate the energy band structure and exceptional ring in a two-dimensional superconducting circuit lattice. In the case of a Hermitian Hamiltonian, by modulating the on-site potential, we find that the single Dirac point splits into four degenerate points. For the non-Hermitian situation, we find that the flat band is significantly destroyed by the presence of gain and loss and the introduction of long-range coupling makes the zero-energy flat band survive because of the protection of chiral symmetry. Meanwhile, the purely real spectrum can be transformed into the purely imaginary spectrum via modulating the parameters appropriately. Furthermore, when the nonreciprocal next-nearest-neighbor couplings are continuously modulated, the two exceptional rings become one and a Dirac-like point occurs inside the exceptional ring. Our scheme opens the promising possibilities for exploring the topological property of two-dimensional superconducting circuit lattice system.

We describe and characterize an experimental apparatus that has been used to study interactions between ultracold lithium atoms and ytterbium ions. The preparation of ultracold clouds of Li atoms is described as well as their subsequent transport and overlap with ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ ions trapped in a Paul trap. We show how the kinetic energy of the ion after interacting with the atoms can be obtained by laser spectroscopy. We analyze the dynamics of the buffer-gas-cooled ion after releasing the atoms, which indicates that background heating, due to electric-field noise, limits attainable buffer gas cooling temperatures. This effect can be mitigated by increasing the density of the Li gas in order to improve its cooling power. Imperfections in the Paul trap lead to so-called excess micromotion, which poses another limitation to the buffer gas cooling. We describe in detail how we measure and subsequently minimize excess micromotion in our setup. We measure the effect of excess micromotion on attainable ion temperatures after buffer gas cooling and compare this to molecular dynamics simulations, which describe the observed data very well.

High-order harmonic generation (HHG) is expected to produce high-quality coherent ultrashort light sources. We propose a scheme similar to laser mode locking to selectively enhance and compress HHG in crystals through nonuniform illuminations and phase matching. The selective enhancement of harmonics reflects attosecond-resolved electron dynamics. And these harmonic characteristics originate from the interference of harmonics from different lattices. It paves the way for the practical application of solid HHG with high conversion efficiencies and the detection of electron-hole dynamics with ultrahigh spatial-temporal resolution.

Recent experimental advances to create tunable synthetic spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in ultracold gases provide new possibilities to access fruitful spin-orbit coupled quantum many-body physics. In this paper, we demonstrate that the combined effect of two-dimensional (2D) SOC and one-dimensional (1D) optical lattice in interacting bosons can provide an alternative scheme in ultracold gases to achieve the crossover of the commensurate-incommensurate supersolid ground state “with respect to the background optical lattice.” Interestingly, it is shown that the anharmonicity arising from the lattice potential leads to the “pin” effect and make the ground-state break the continuous translational symmetry along the direction perpendicular to the 1D lattice, whereas the competition between the lattice period and the SOC length results in the crossover of commensurate-incommensurate ground state along the direction of 1D lattice with discrete translational symmetry breaking. Such a combined effect of SOC and optical lattice, thus, induces a new 2D periodic pattern in the ground state, accompanying with nonzero 2D superfluid density characterizing the supersolid nature in 2D of the ground state. Furthermore, a skyrmion-anti-skyrmion lattice is found associated with the appearance of such supersolid ground state, indicating its topological nontrivial properties. Experimental signature of our proposed supersolid ground state is also predicted by means of the time-of-flight measurement.

We propose a scheme to demonstrate the manipulation of space-dependent four-wave mixing (FWM) in a four-level atomic system. By adjusting the detuning of the control field, one can effectively control the FWM output field transferred from a pump beam carrying orbital angular momentum. More interestingly, by appropriate choice of the intensity of the control field, the FWM field can be significantly enhanced and phase twist is almost completely suppressed. Furthermore, the superposition modes created by the interference between the FWM field and a same-frequency Gaussian beam are also discussed, showing many interesting properties. Our results may open some possibilities for phase imprinting in Bose-Einstein condensates or atom manipulation with optical tweezers.

We revisit the total scatterings (in terms of extinction, scattering, and absorption cross sections) by arbitrary clusters of nonmagnetic particles that support optically induced magnetic responses. Our reexamination is conducted from the perspective of the electromagnetic duality symmetry, and it is revealed that all total scattering properties are invariant under duality transformations. This secures that, for self-dual particle clusters, the total scattering properties are polarization independent for any fixed incident direction, while, for non-self-dual particle clusters, two scattering configurations that are connected to each other through a duality transformation would exhibit identical scattering properties. This electromagnetic duality induced invariance is irrelevant to specific particle distributions or wave incident directions, which is illustrated for both random and periodic clusters.

The photon-wave-function formalism provides an alternative description of some quantum optical phenomena in a more intuitive way. We use this formalism to describe the process of correlated Stokes–anti-Stokes Raman scattering. In this process, two photons from a laser beam are inelastically scattered by a phonon created by the first photon (Stokes processes) and annihilated by the second photon (anti-Stokes process), producing a Stokes–anti-Sokes (SaS) photon pair. We arrive at an expression for the two-photon wave function of the scattered SaS photon pair, which is in agreement with a number of experimental results.