We observe that a mesoscopic field made of several tens of microwave photons exhibits quantum features when interacting with a single Rydberg atom in a high-Q cavity. The field is split into two components whose phases differ by an angle inversely proportional to the square root of the average photon number. The field and the atomic dipole are phase-entangled. These manifestations of photon graininess vanish at the classical limit. This experiment opens the way to studies of large Schrodinger cat states at the quantum-classical boundary.
We use a quantum path integral approach to describe the behavior of a microwave cavity coupled to a dissipative mesoscopic circuit. We integrate out the mesoscopic electronic degrees of freedom to obtain a cavity effective action at fourth order in the light/matter coupling. By studying the structure of this action, we establish sufficient conditions in which the cavity dynamics can be described with a Lindblad equation. This equation depends on effective parameters set by electronic correlation functions. It reveals that the mesoscopic circuit induces an effective Kerr interaction and two-pho…
Mesoscopic spin ensembles coupled to a cavity offer the exciting prospect of observing complex nonclassical phenomena that pool the microscopic features from a few spins with those of macroscopic spin ensembles. Here, we demonstrate how the collective interactions in an ensemble of as many as hundred spins can be harnessed to obtain a periodic pulse train of nonclassical light. To unravel the full quantum dynamics and photon statistics, we develop a time-adaptive variational renormalization group method that accurately captures the underlying Lindbladian dynamics of the mesoscopic spin-cavity …
Tracing the dynamics of a quantum system using a mesoscopic device is an important topic of interest nowadays. Here we show how a mesoscopic mechanical oscillator steers the dynamics of a coupled two-atom system and gives rise to a two-qubit SWAP gate. We have theoretically studied a generic hybrid atom-optomechanical system where two identical atoms in $Λ$ configuration are trapped inside the cavity and the cavity mode mediates the interaction between the atoms and the mechanical oscillator. Adiabatic elimination of the lossy channels is adopted which in turn gives rise to an effective Hamilt…
The simple resonant Rabi oscillation of a two-level system in a single-mode coherent field reveals complex features at the mesoscopic scale, with oscillation collapses and revivals. Using slow circular Rydberg atoms interacting with a superconducting microwave cavity, we explore this phenomenon in an unprecedented range of interaction times and photon numbers. We demonstrate the efficient production of `cat' states, quantum superposition of coherent components with nearly opposite phases and sizes in the range of few tens of photons. We measure cuts of their Wigner functions revealing their qu…
We study the interplay between charge transport and light-matter interactions in a confined geometry, by considering an open, mesoscopic chain of two-orbital systems resonantly coupled to a single bosonic mode close to its vacuum state. We introduce and benchmark different methods based on self-consistent solutions of non-equilibrium Green's functions and numerical simulations of the quantum master equation, and derive both analytical and numerical results. It is shown that in the dissipative regime where the cavity photon decay rate is the largest parameter, the light-matter coupling is respo…
We consider dynamics of a disordered ensemble of qubits interacting with single mode photon field, which is described by exactly solvable inhomogeneous Dicke model. In particular, we concentrate on the crossover from few-qubit systems to the system of many qubits and analyze how collective behavior of coupled qubits-cavity system emerges despite of the broadening. We show that quantum interference effects survive in the mesoscopic regime -- dynamics of an entangled Bell state encoded into the qubit subsystem remains highly sensitive to the symmetry of the total wave function. Moreover, relaxat…
Two initially correlated coherent states, each interacting with its own independent dissipative environment exhibit a sudden transition from classical to quantum decoherence. This change in the dynamics is a turning point in the decoherence, in the sense that depending on the average number of photons of each cavity, decoherence can even be suppressed. Indeed, the quantum state is time-independent for a time span in the mesoscopic regime, revealing a decoherence-free subspace. Furthermore, the absence of decoherence is manifested in the apparition of a metastable pointer state basis.
Cryogenic spectroscopy of ultra-low density colloidal lead chalcogenide quantum dots on chip-scale optical cavities towards single quantum dot near-infrared cavity QED
Mesoscopic superposition states of photons can be prepared in three cavities interacting with the same two-level atom. By periodically modulating the three cavity frequencies around the transition frequency of the atom with $2π/3$ phase difference, the time reversal symmetry is broken and an optical circulator is generated with chiralities depending on the quantum state of the atom. A superposition of the atomic states can guide photons from one cavity to a mesoscopic superposition of the other two cavities. The physics can be understood in a finite spin-orbit-coupled Fock-state lattice where …
Quantum control of a system requires the manipulation of quantum states faster than any decoherence rate. For mesoscopic systems, this has so far only been reached by few cryogenic systems. An important milestone towards quantum control is the so-called strong coupling regime, which in cavity optomechanics corresponds to an optomechanical coupling strength larger than cavity decay rate and mechanical damping. Here, we demonstrate the strong coupling regime at room temperature between a levitated silica particle and a high finesse optical cavity. Normal mode splitting is achieved by employing c…
We present a hybrid optomechanical scheme to achieve dynamical squeezing of position quadrature of a mesoscopic mechanical oscillator, that can be externally controlled by classical fields. A membrane-in-the-middle set up is employed, in which an atom in $Λ$ configuration is considered to be trapped on either side of the membrane inside the cavity. We show that a considerable amount of squeezing (beyond the 3 dB limit) can be achieved that is not affected by the decay of the cavity and the spontaneous emission of the atom. Squeezing depends upon the initial preparation of atomic states. Furthe…
Circuit QED techniques have been instrumental to manipulate and probe with exquisite sensitivity the quantum state of superconducting quantum bits coupled to microwave cavities. Recently, it has become possible to fabricate new devices where the superconducting quantum bits are replaced by hybrid mesoscopic circuits combining nanoconductors and metallic reservoirs. This mesoscopic QED provides a new experimental playground to study the light-matter interaction in electronic circuits. Here, we present the experimental state of the art of Mesoscopic QED and its theoretical description. A first c…
We discuss a technique to strongly couple a single target quantum emitter to a cavity mode, which is enabled by virtual excitations of a nearby mesoscopic ensemble of emitters. A collective coupling of the latter to both the cavity and the target emitter induces strong photon non-linearities in addition to polariton formation, in contrast to common schemes for ensemble strong coupling. We demonstrate that strong coupling at the level of a single emitter can be engineered via coherent and dissipative dipolar interactions with the ensemble, and provide realistic parameters for a possible impleme…
We report a quantum measurement beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL) for the amplitude of a small displacement acting on a cavity field. This measurement uses as resource an entangled mesoscopic state, prepared by the resonant interaction of a circular Rydberg atom with a field stored in a superconducting cavity. We analyse the measurement process in terms of Fisher information and prove that it is, in principle, optimal. The achieved experimental precision, 2.4 dB below the SQL, is well understood in terms of experimental imperfections.This method could be transposed to other systems, part…
