We study theoretically the spin-induced and photon-induced fluctuations of optical signals from a singly-charged quantum dot-microcavity structure. We identify the respective contributions of the photon-polariton interactions, in the strong light-matter coupling regime, and of the quantum back-action induced by photon detection on the spin system. Strong spin projection by a single photon is shown to be achievable, allowing the initialization and measurement of a fully-polarized Larmor precession. The spectrum of second-order correlations is deduced, displaying information on both spin and quantum dot-cavity dynamics. The presented theory thus bridges the gap between the fields of spin noise spectroscopy and quantum optics.
We theoretically analyze measurements of the transient field leaving a cavity as a tool for studying non-Markovian dynamics in cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED). Combined with a dynamical decoupling pulse sequence, transient spectroscopy can be used to recover spectral features that may be obscured in the stationary cavity transmission spectrum due to inhomogeneous broadening. The formalism introduced here can be leveraged to perform in situ noise spectroscopy, revealing a robust signature of quantum noise arising from non-commuting observables, a purely quantum effect.
We explore the physics of topological lattice models in c-QED architectures for arbitrary coupling strength, and the use of the cavity transmission as a topological marker. For this, we develop an approach combining the input-output formalism with an expansion in quantum fluctuations which allows to go beyond the small-coupling regime. We apply our formalism to a fermionic Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain coupled to a single-mode cavity, and find that the cavity can indeed act as a quantum sensor for topological phases, where the initial state preparation plays a crutial role. Additionally, we…
We present and analyze a method where parametric (two-photon) driving of a cavity is used to exponentially enhance the light-matter coupling in a generic cavity QED setup, with time-dependent control. Our method allows one to enhance weak-coupling systems, such that they enter the strong coupling regime (where the coupling exceeds dissipative rates) and even the ultra-strong coupling regime (where the coupling is comparable to the cavity frequency). As an example, we show how the scheme allows one to use a weak-coupling system to adiabatically prepare the highly entangled ground state of the u…
We discuss the simulation of non-perturbative cavity-QED effects using systems of trapped ions. Specifically, we address the implementation of extended Dicke models with both collective dipole-field and direct dipole-dipole interactions, which represent a minimal set of models for describing light-matter interactions in the ultrastrong and deep-strong coupling regime. We show that this approach can be used in state-of-the-art trapped ion setups to investigate excitation spectra or the transition between sub- and superradiant ground states, which are currently not accessible in any other physic…
Using carefully designed hybrid metal-dielectric resonators, we study molecular optomechanics in the strong coupling regime ($g_{\rm }^2/ω_m {>} κ$), which manifests in anharmonic emission lines in the sideband-resolved region of the cavity-emitted spectrum ($κ{<}ω_m$). This nonlinear optomechanical strong coupling regime is enabled through a metal-dielectric cavity system that yields not only deep sub-wavelength plasmonic confinement, but also dielectric-like confinement times that are more than two orders of magnitude larger than those from typical localized plasmon modes. These hybrid metal…
By exploiting the nonlinear nature of the Jaynes Cumming's interaction, one can get photon population trapping in cavity-QED arrays. However, the unavoidable dissipative effects in a realistic system would destroy the self-trapped state by continuous photon leakage. To circumvent this issue, we show that a careful engineering of drive, dissipation and Hamiltonian results in achieving indefinitely sustained self-trapping. We show that the intricate interplay between drive, dissipation, and light-matter interaction results in requiring an optimal window of drive strengths in order to achieve suc…
We consider the model of a single optical cavity mode interacting with two-level systems (spins) driven by a linearly time-dependent field. When this field passes through values at which spin energy level splittings become comparable to spin coupling to the optical mode, a cascade of Landau-Zener (LZ) transitions leads to co-flips of spins in exchange for photons of the cavity. We derive exact transition probabilities between different diabatic states induced by such a sweep of the field.