We present a systematic method to implement a perturbative Hamiltonian diagonalization based on the time-dependent Schrieffer-Wolff transformation. Applying our method to strong parametric interactions we show how, even in the dispersive regime, full Rabi model physics is essential to describe the dressed spectrum. Our results unveil several qualitatively new results including realization of large energy-level shifts, tunable in magnitude and sign with the frequency and amplitude of the pump mediating the parametric interaction. Crucially Bloch-Siegert shifts, typically thought to be important only in the ultra-strong or deep-strong coupling regimes, can be rendered large even for weak dispersive interactions to realize points of exact cancellation of dressed shifts (`blind spots') at specific pump frequencies. The framework developed here highlights the rich physics accessible with time-dependent interactions and serves to significantly expand the functionalities for control and readout of strongly-interacting quantum systems.
Deriving effective Hamiltonian models plays an essential role in quantum theory, with particular emphasis in recent years on control and engineering problems. In this work, we present two symbolic methods for computing effective Hamiltonian models: the Non-perturbative Analytical Diagonalization (NPAD) and the Recursive Schrieffer-Wolff Transformation (RSWT). NPAD makes use of the Jacobi iteration and works without the assumptions of perturbation theory while retaining convergence, allowing to treat a very wide range of models. In the perturbation regime, it reduces to RSWT, which takes advant…
The problem of diagonalization of Hamiltonians of N-dimensional boson systems by means of time-dependent canonical transformations (CT) is considered, the case of quadratic Hamiltonians being treated in greater detail. The unitary generator of time-dependent CT which can transform any Hamiltonian to that of a system of uncoupled stationary oscillators is constructed. The close relationship between methods of canonical transformations, time-dependent integrals of motion and dynamical symmetry is noted. The diagonalization and symplectic properties of the uncertainty matrix for 2N canonical obse…
The difficulty that the probabilities infinitely increase with time as time is long enough in time-dependent perturbation theory for some quantum systems is resolved by means of simply transforming the perturbative series into natural exponential functions of the re-summed perturbative series. Three exactly solvable models are taken to check our new formulation, and excellent agreements with the exact solution are achieved.
A novel expansion -- which generalizes Magnus expansion -- of the evolution operator associated with a (in general, time-dependent) perturbed Hamiltonian is introduced. It is shown that it has a wide range of possible solutions that can be fitted according to computational convenience. The time-independent and the adiabatic case are studied in detail.
We formulate a systematic algorithm for constructing a whole class of Hermitian position-dependent-mass Hamiltonians which, to lowest order of perturbation theory, allow a description in terms of PT-symmetric Hamiltonians. The method is applied to the Hermitian analogue of the PT-symmetric cubic anharmonic oscillator. A new example is provided by a Hamiltonian (approximately) equivalent to a PT-symmetric extension of the one-parameter trigonometric Poschl-Teller potential.
We extend the "gauge choice" problem Lamb noticed to include a time-dependent relativistic non-perturbative Coulomb field, which can be produced by a cluster of relativistic charged particles. If adiabatic conditions are carefully maintained, such a field must be included along side the nuclear Coulomb potential when defining the atomic state. We reveal that when taking the external field approximation, the gauge choice for this time-dependent relativistic non-perturbative Coulomb field cannot be overcome by previous method, and leads to considerable gauge-dependence of the transient spontaneo…
A powerful method for calculating the eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian operator consists of converting the energy eigenvalue equation into a matrix equation by means of an appropriate basis set of functions. The convergence of the method can be greatly improved by means of a variational parameter in the basis functions determined by the principle of minimal sensitivity. In the case of the quartic anharmonic oscillator and of a symmetrical double-well potential we choose an effective oscillator frequency. In the case of nonsymmetrical potential we add a coordinate shift in a two-parameter variation…
A theoretical approach for a non-perturbative dynamical description of two interacting atoms in an optical lattice potential is introduced. The approach builds upon the stationary eigenstates found by a procedure described in Grishkevich et al. [Phys. Rev. A 84, 062710 (2011)]. It allows presently to treat any time-dependent external perturbation of the lattice potential up to quadratic order. Example calculations of the experimentally relevant cases of an acceleration of the lattice and the turning-on of an additional harmonic confinement are presented.
We introduce a real-space technique able to extend the standard Hopfield approach commonly used in quantum polaritonics to the case of inhomogeneous lossless materials interacting with the electromagnetic field. We derive the creation and annihilation polaritonic operators for the system normal modes as linear, space-dependent superpositions of the microscopic light and matter fields, and we invert the Hopfield transformation expressing the microscopic fields as functions of the polaritonic operators. As an example, we apply our approach to the case of a planar interface between vacuum and a p…
We present a variational method which uses a quartic exponential function as a trial wave-function to describe time-dependent quantum mechanical systems. We introduce a new physical variable $y$ which is appropriate to describe the shape of wave-packet, and calculate the effective action as a function of both the dispersion $\sqrt{< \hat{q}^2>}$ and $y$. The effective potential successfully describes the transition of the system from the false vacuum to the true vacuum. The present method well describes the long time evolution of the wave-function of the system after the symmetry breaking, whi…
We propose a perturbative approach to determine the time-dependent Dyson map and the metric operator associated with time-dependent non-Hermitian Hamiltonians. We apply the method to a pair of explicitly time-dependent two dimensional harmonic oscillators that are weakly coupled to each other in a PT-symmetric fashion and to the strongly coupled explicitly time-dependent negative quartic anharmonic oscillator potential. We demonstrate that once the perturbative Ansatz is set up the coupled differential equations resulting order by order may be solved recursively in a constructive manner, thus …
To lowest order of perturbation theory we show that an equivalence can be established between a $\cal PT$-symmetric generalized quartic anharmonic oscillator model and a Hermitian position-dependent mass Hamiltonian $h$. An important feature of $h$ is that it reveals a domain of couplings where the quartic potential could be attractive, vanishing or repulsive. We also determine the associated physical quantities.
We consider a simple model of a cloud chamber consisting of a test particle (the alpha-particle) interacting with two other particles (the atoms of the vapour) subject to attractive potentials centered in $a_1, a_2 \in \mathbb{R}^3$. At time zero the alpha-particle is described by an outgoing spherical wave centered in the origin and the atoms are in their ground state. We show that, under suitable assumptions on the physical parameters of the system and up to second order in perturbation theory, the probability that both atoms are ionized is negligible unless $a_2$ lies on the line joining th…
We investigate photon pair-creation in a dispersive dielectric medium induced by the presence of a spacetime varying dielectric constant. Our aim is to examine the possibility to observe new phenomena of pair creation induced by travelling dielectric perturbations e.g. created by laser pulses by means of the Kerr effect. In this perspective, we adopt a semi-phenomenological version of the Hopfield model in which a space-time dependent dielectric susceptibility appears. We focus our attention on perturbation theory, and provide general formulas for the photon production induced by a local but a…
The computational complexity of time-dependent perturbation theory is well-known to be largely combinatorial whatever the chosen expansion method and family of parameters (combinatorial sequences, Goldstone and other Feynman-type diagrams...). We show that a very efficient perturbative expansion, both for theoretical and numerical purposes, can be obtained through an original parametrization by trees and generalized iterated integrals. We emphasize above all the simplicity and naturality of the new approach that links perturbation theory with classical and recent results in enumerative and alg…
The projection of time-dependent variational principle (TDVP) for matrix product states enables us to perform long-time simulations of one-dimensional quantum systems with the conservation of the total energy and the norm of wave functions. We compare long-time dynamics after a quantum quench simulated by TDVP with those by the exact diagonalization method in order to evaluate the performance of TDVP. We show that in a nonintegrable model the projection of TDVP clearly improves the long-time behaviors of global observables included in the Hamiltonian, such as the kinetic and interaction energi…
We show that in one dimension the transfer matrix M of any scattering potential v coincides with the S-matrix of an associated time-dependent non-Hermitian 2 x 2 matrix Hamiltonian H(τ). If v is real-valued, H(τ) is pseudo-Hermitian and its exceptional points correspond to the classical turning points of v. Applying time-dependent perturbation theory to H(τ) we obtain a perturbative series expansion for M and use it to study the phenomenon of unidirectional invisibility. In particular, we establish the possibility of having multimode unidirectional invisibility with wavelength-dependent direct…