The investigation presented by Doiron, Hache, and Winful [Phys. Rev. A 76, 023823 (2007)] is not valid for the tunneling process as claimed in the paper.
Shegelski, Kavka, and Hynbida have developed a method for calculating the lifetime of a particle initially localized in a potential well exactly quantum mechanically by employing a heuristic expression for the lifetime <t>. Their method allows for the inclusion of a bound state, and their results for tunneling through a centrifugal barrier demonstrate the major role that bound states play in determining the lifetime. In this comment, I show that one can greatly simplify the analysis by calculating <t^2>^(1/2) instead. Results obtained are exact when no bound state is present. In the presence o…
The title of this article is misleading. The authors have investigated a resonator but not a tunneling barrier see also Refs.\cite{Winful2} The measured superluminal group velocity and discussed is that studied on a Lorentz-Lorenz oscillator by Sommerfeld and Brillouin a hundred years ago \cite{Brillouin}. It is similar to the faster than light experiment by Wang et al. based also on anomalous dispersion with a complex refractive index of a resonator \cite{Wang}. Tunneling, however, is understood and performed by electromagnetic evanescent modes or by tunneling solutions of the Schrödinger equ…
This is a comment on recent paper by T.M. Stace and S.D. Barrett, PRL 92, 136802 (2004). We show that the main result of the paper, absence of the spectral peak for continuous weak measurement of coherent oscillations in a qubit, is incorrect.
A general coherent control scenario to suppress, or accelerate, tunneling of quantum states decaying into a continuum, is investigated. The method is based on deterministic, or stochastic, sequences of unitary pulses that affect the underlying interference phenomena responsible for quantum dynamics, without inducing decoherence, or collapsing the coherent evolution of the system. The influence of control sequences on the ensuing quantum dynamics is analyzed by using perturbation theory to first order in the control pulse fields and compared to dynamical decoupling (DD) protocols and sequences …
We study a model for frustrated tunneling ionization using ultrashort laser pulses. The model is based on the strong field approximation and it employs the saddle point approximation to predict quasiclassical trajectories that are captured on Rydberg states. We present a classification of the saddle-point solutions and explore their behavior as functions of angular momentum of the final state, as well as the carrier--envelope phase (CEP) of the laser pulse. We compare the final state population computed by the model to results obtained by numerical propagation of the time-dependent Schrödinger…
Using quantum computers to simulate polyatomic reaction dynamics has an exponential advantage in the amount of resources needed over classical computers. Here we demonstrate an exact simulation of the dynamics of the laser-driven isomerization reaction of asymmetric malondialdehydes. We discretize space and time, decompose the Hamiltonian operator according to the number of qubits and use Walsh-series approximation to implement the quantum circuit for diagonal operators. We observe that the reaction evolves by means of a tunneling mechanism through a potential barrier and the final state is in…
Qubits driven by resonant strong pulses are studied and a parameter regime is explored in which the dynamics can be solved in closed form. Instantaneous coherent destruction of tunneling can be seen for longer pulses, whereas shorter pulses allow a fast preparation of the qubit state. Results are compared with recent experiments of pulsed nitrogen-vacancy center spin qubits in diamond.
S. Longhi [1] studied the survival probability P(t) of an unstable state coupled to a tight-binding lattice finding an exact analytical solution that describes the nonexponential decay. When the first coupling is smaller than the others, he shows that P(t) has a natural decomposition into two terms; one is the exponential decay, consistent with the Gamow's approach, and the other is the correction to this decay. The first purpose of this Comment is to show that the condition imposed on the system; the site energy of the first site is set in the center of the band, limits the generality of the …
We study the enhancement of tunneling through a potential barrier $V(x)$ by a time-dependent electric field with special emphasis on pulse-shaped vector potentials such as $A_x(t)=A_0/\cosh^2(ωt)$. In addition to the known effects of pre-acceleration and potential deformation already present in the adiabatic regime, as well as energy mixing in analogy to the Franz-Keldysh effect in the non-adiabatic (impulse) regime, the pulse $A_x(t)$ can enhance tunneling by ``pushing'' part of the wave-function out of the rear end of the barrier. Besides the natural applications in condensed matter and atom…
We analyze the results obtained recently by Khazael and Sebastiani (J. Chem. Phys. \textbf{147}, 194303 (2017)) for two coupled methyl rotors. We show that one of the avoided crossings obtained by those authors is in fact a true crossing between states of different symmetry. Present analysis is supposed to be clearer because it is based on an independent calculation of eigenvalues for each irreducible representation. The application of group theory also enables a more accurate calculation by means of smaller matrix representations of the Hamiltonian operator.
A recent Letter [1] has proposed a device, consisting of an rf SQUID with the junction replaced by a double one, i.e. a Bloch transistor. For symmetric Josephson couplings, and for specific flux bias and gate voltage applied to the transistor's island, the tunneling of encircled flux between its two local potential minima is claimed to be suppressed completely due to destructive interference. This comment purports to show that this claim in general is not valid. Namely, the very Hamiltonian (1) in [1], from which the effect is derived, describes the circuit only under an additional condition. …
A comment by R. Schutzhold et al. raises possible concerns and questions regarding recent measurements of analogue Hawking radiation. We briefly reply to the opinions expressed in the comment and sustain that the origin of the radiation may be understood in terms of Hawking emission.
Multiphoton detachment of F$^-$ by strong few-cycle laser pulses was studied by Shearer and Monteith using a Keldysh-type approach [Phys. Rev. A 88, 033415 (2013)]. We believe that this work contained errors in the calculation of the detachment amplitude and photoelectron spectra. We describe the necessary corrections to the theory and show that the results, in particular, the interference features of the photoelectron spectra, appear noticeably different.
Classically allowed transport is shown to compete with quantum tunneling during the ionization of atoms by ultrashort and intense laser pulses, despite Keldysh parameters smaller than unity. This is done by comparing exact probability densities with the ones obtained from purely classical propagation using the Truncated Wigner Approximation. Not only is classical transport capable of moving trajectories away from the core, but it can also furnish ionization probabilities of the same order as the quantum ones for intensities currently employed in experiments. Our results have implications rangi…
Visualizing and controlling electron dynamics over femtosecond timescale play a key role in the design of next-generation electronic devices. Using simulations, we demonstrate the electronic oscillation inside the naphthalene molecule can be tracked by means of the tuning of delay time between two identical femtosecond laser pulses. Both the frequency and decay time of the oscillation are detected by the tunneling charge through the junction of scanning tunneling microscopy. And the tunneling charge is sensitive to the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) for few-cycle long optical pulses. While this …
We reply to S. Coen and T. Sylvestre's comment on our paper [Phys. Rev. A 80, 045803 (2009)] and make some additional remarks on our experimental results.
In a recent paper Belgiorno {\em et al} claimed to have observed the analog of the Hawking effect because of the detection of radiation in a frequency range in which what they called "phase horizons" existed. They created rapidly moving pulses of light in a silica glass whose Kerr effect altered the refractive index to create those horizons. Unfortunately, while the observations are very interesting, the cause of the radiation is not understood, and we feel it is not justified to call this a detection of the Hawking effect in an analog system.
We show that interference phenomena plays a big role for the electron yield in ionization of atoms by an ultra-short laser pulse. Our theoretical study of single ionization of atoms driven by few-cycles pulses extends the photoelectron spectrum observed in the double-slit experiment by Lindner et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{95}, 040401 (2005) to a complete three-dimensional momentum picture. We show that different wave packets corresponding to the same single electron released at different times interfere, forming interference fringes in the two-dimensional momentum distributions. These struc…
Tunneling ionization of an atom in ultrashort laser pulses is considered. When the driving laser pulse is switched-on and -off with a steep slope, the photoelectron momentum distribution (PMD) shows an edge-effect because of the photoelectron diffraction by the time-slit of the pulse. The trivial diffraction pattern of the edge effect consisting of fast oscillations in the PMD disguises in the deep nonadiabatic regime the physically more interesting features in the spectrum which originate from the photoelectron dynamics. We point out the precise conditions how to avoid this scenario experimen…
We study electron transfer between two separated nuclei using local control theory. By conditioning the algorithm in a symmetric system formed by two protons, one can favored slow transfer processes, where tunneling is the main mechanism, achieving transfer efficiencies close to unity assuming fixed nuclei. The solution can be parametrized using sequences of pump and dump pi pulses, where the pump pulse is used to excite the electron to a highly excited state where the time for tunneling to the target nuclei is on the order of femtoseconds. The time delay must be chosen to allow for full popul…
We investigate the liberation of an atomic electron by a linearly polarized single-cycle near-infrared laser pulse having a peak intensity that ensures tunneling. Based on phase space analysis and energy distribution in the instantaneous potential, we reveal the importance of quantum interference between tunneling and over-the-barrier pathways of escape. Tunneling is blurred both in space and time, and the contribution of tunneling at the mean energy is almost negligible. We suggest and justify improved initial conditions for a classical particle approximation of strong-field ionization, based…
Some recent theoretical studies have tended to employ analytically-continuous {\em gaussian}, or infinite-bandwidth step pulses to examine tunneling process. The stationary phase method is often employed to this aim. However, {\em gaussian} functions do not have a well-defined front, such that their speed of propagation becomes ambiguous. Also, infinite bandwidth signals cannot propagate through any real physical medium (whose transfer function is therefore finite) without pulse distortion, which also leads to ambiguities in determining propagation velocity during the tunneling process. In thi…
The fastest tunneling response in double barrier resonant structures is investigated by considering explicit analytic solutions of the time dependent Schrödinger equation. For cutoff initial plane waves, we find that the earliest tunneling events consist on the emission of a series of propagating pulses of the probability density governed by the buildup oscillations in the quantum well. We show that the fastest tunneling response comes from the contribution of incident carriers at energies different from resonance, and that its relevant time scale is given by $τ_r=π\hbar /| E-ε| $, where $ε$ i…
The effects of a voltage pulse on the localization probability for a Xe atom prepared in a pure state localized on the STM surface at 0 temperature is investigated by numerically integrating the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. In these calculations the environmental interactions are neglected, and voltage pulses of 20 and 7 ns with symmetric triangular and trapezoidal shapes are considered. The atom dynamics at an environmental temperature of 4 K is studied in the frame of a stochastic, non-linear Liouville equation for the density operator. It is shown that the irreversible transfer fro…
In a recent letter, Barbosa et al [PRL 90, 227901(2003)] claim that secure communication is possible with bright coherent pulses, by using quantum noise to hide the data from an eavesdropper. We show here that the secrecy in the scheme of Barbosa et al is unrelated to quantum noise, but rather derives from the secret key that sender and receiver share beforehand.
In a semiconductor-based double quantum well (QW) coupled to a degree of freedom with an internal dynamics, we demonstrate that the electronic motion is controllable within femtoseconds by applying appropriately shaped electromagnetic pulses. In particular, we consider a pulse-driven AlxGa1-xAs based symmetric double QW coupled to uniformly distributed or localized vibrational modes and present analytical results for the lowest two levels. These predictions are assessed and generalized by full-fledged numerical simulations showing that localization and time-stabilization of the driven electron…
We present here our recent results on qubit reset scheme based on a quantum-circuit refrigerator (QCR). In particular, we use the photon-assisted quasiparticle tunneling through a superconductor--insulator--normal-metal--insulator--superconductor junction to controllably decrease the energy relaxation time of the qubit during the QCR operation. In our experiment, we use a transmon qubit with dispersive readout. The QCR is capacitively coupled to the qubit through its normal-metal island. We employ rapid, square-shaped QCR control voltage pulses with durations in the range of 2--350 ns and a va…