Objective
Quantum simulation is a fundamental concept in our pre-fault tolerant era. In this respect, waveguide quantum electrodynamics (wQED) setups, i.e. quantum emitters (atoms) interfaced with engineered photonic materials, represent promising NISQ devices for analog quantum simulation. Many experimental platforms to engineer photonic environments, e.g. arrays of superconducting circuits, possess intrinsic photonic nonlinearities in the form of photon-photon interactions caused by, e.g. the anharmonicity of the superconducting circuits. Though available for specific cases, a coherent theoretical framework to describe nonlinear many-body wQED systems is still missing. The nonlinear character of a photonic bath renders the whole system complex and not exactly solvable, making standard quantum optics textbook approaches not applicable. This project will introduce a radically new approach to this field by transferring knowledge from quantum field theory (QFT) to wQED, an approach that has already proven useful in condensed matter and in ultracold atoms physics. We will study nonlinear wQED systems, i.e. with photon-photon interactions, modelled by, e.g. a Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, and investigate purely photonic many-body physics effects like quantum phase transitions. This will be carried out by developing a field theory for wQED using a path integral approach, of the most powerful tools in QFT to deal with interacting fields. The central goal will be derivation of an effective emitters’ action, which can probe the many-body physics of the photonic environment. In particular, we will be able to characterize the behavior of an atomic quantum simulator across a quantum phase transition of the surrounding photonic environment. Characterizing the effects of nonlinearities represents a breakthrough in the physics of wQED, and will shed light on how to harness these experimentally unavoidable features for optical quantum computing tasks.
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
80333 Muenchen
Germany