Search

An accelerated observer moving through empty space sees particles appearing and disappearing, while an observer with a constant velocity does not register any particles. This phenomenon, generally known as the Unruh effect, relies on an initial vacuum state, thereby unifying the experience of all inertial observers. We propose an experiment to probe this observer-dependent detector response, using a laser beam in circular motion as a local detector of superfluid helium-4 surface modes or third sound waves. To assess experimental feasibility, we develop a theoretical framework to include a non-zero temperature initial state. We find that an acceleration-dependent signal persists, independent of the initial temperature. By introducing a signal-to-noise measure we show that observing this signal is within experimental reach., Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures. v2: Figure 2 axis amended, typos corrected. v3: Added section 4 after referee comments, references added, author order updated, typos corrected

The modeling of out-of-equilibrium many-body systems requires to go beyond the low-energy physics and local densities of states. Many-body localization, presence or lack of thermalization and quantum chaos are examples of phenomena in which states at different energy scales, including the highly excited ones, contribute to the dynamics and therefore affect the system's properties. Quantifying these contributions requires the many-body density of states (MBDoS), a function whose calculation becomes challenging even for non-interacting identical quantum particles due to the difficulty in enumerating states while enforcing the exchange symmetry. In the present work, we introduce a new approach to evaluate the MBDoS in the case of systems that can be mapped into free fermions. The starting point of our method is the principal component analysis of the filling matrix $F$ describing how $N$ fermions can be configured into $L$ single-particle energy levels. We show that the many body spectrum can be expanded as a weighted sum of spectra given by the principal components of the filling matrix. The weighting coefficients only involve renormalized energies obtained from the single body spectrum. We illustrate our method in two classes of problems that are mapped into spinless fermions: (i) non-interacting electrons in a homogeneous tight-binding model in 1D and 2D, and (ii) interacting spins in a chain under a transverse field., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

We present a non perturbative calculation technique providing the mixed moments of the overlaps between the eigenvectors of two large quantum Hamiltonians: $\hat{H}_0$ and $\hat{H}_0+\hat{W}$, where $\hat{H}_0$ is deterministic and $\hat{W}$ is random. We apply this method to recover the second order moments or Local Density Of States in the case of an arbitrary fixed $\hat{H}_0$ and a Gaussian $\hat{W}$. Then we calculate the fourth order moments of the overlaps in the same setting. Such quantities are crucial for understanding the local dynamics of a large composite quantum system. In this case, $\hat{H}_0$ is the sum of the Hamiltonians of the system subparts and $\hat{W}$ is an interaction term. We test our predictions with numerical simulations., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures

We consider an arbitrary quantum system coupled non perturbatively to a large arbitrary and fully quantum environment. In [G. Ithier and F. Benaych-Georges, Phys. Rev. A 96, 012108 (2017)] the typicality of the dynamics of such an embedded quantum system was established for several classes of random interactions. In other words, the time evolution of its quantum state does not depend on the microscopic details of the interaction. Focusing at the long time regime, we use this property to calculate analytically a new partition function characterizing the stationary state and involving the overlaps between eigenvectors of a bare and a dressed Hamiltonian. This partition function provides a new thermodynamical ensemble which includes the microcanonical and canonical ensembles as particular cases. We check our predictions with numerical simulations., Comment: 1 figure, 5 pages. This article supersedes the part on the equilibrium state in arXiv:1510.04352

We consider the dynamics of an arbitrary quantum system coupled to a large arbitrary and fully quantum mechanical environment through a random interaction. We establish analytically and check numerically the typicality of this dynamics, in other words the fact that the reduced density matrix of the system has a self-averaging property. This phenomenon, which lies in a generalized central limit theorem, justifies rigorously averaging procedures over certain classes of random interactions and can explain the absence of sensitivity to microscopic details of irreversible processes such as thermalisation. It provides more generally a new ergodic principle for embedded quantum systems., Comment: 9 pages. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A. This article supersedes the part on "dynamical typicality" in arXiv:1510.04352

Why is thermalisation a universal phenomenon? How does a quantum system reach thermodynamical equilibrium? These questions are not new, dating even from the very birth of quantum theory and have been the subject of a renewed interest over the two last decades (see for instance the review in Eisert et al, Nature Physics 2015). In this work, we propose a universal model demonstrating that thermalisation of a small quantum system is an emergent property of the unitary evolution under a Schr\"{o}dinger equation of a larger composite system, whose initial state can be arbitrary. We show that the origin of universality lies in the phenomenon of 'measure concentration', which provides self-averaging properties for the reduced density matrix characterizing the state of the small subsystem. Using our framework, we focus on the asymptotic state at long times and consider its stationary properties. In typical macroscopic conditions, we recover the canonical state and the Boltzmann distribution well known from statistical thermodynamics. This findings lead us to propose an alternative and more general definition of the canonical partition function which also allow us to describe non thermal stationary states.

We introduce a new and quantitative theoretical framework for noise spectral analysis using a threshold detector, which is then applied to a superconducting device: the Cavity Bifurcation Amplifier (CBA). We show that this new framework provides direct access to the environmental noise spectrum with a sensitivity approaching the standard quantum limit of weak continuous measurements. In addition, the accessible frequency range of the spectrum is, in principle, limited only by the ring down time of the CBA. This on-chip noise detector is non-dissipative and works with low probing powers, allowing it to be operated at low temperatures ($T<15$mK). We exploit this technique for measuring the frequency fluctuations of the CBA and find a low frequency noise with an amplitude and spectrum compatible with a dielectric origin., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 notation table

The addition of nonlinearity to an harmonic resonator provides a route to complex dynamical behaviour of resonant modes, including coupling between them. We present a superconducting device that makes use of the nonlinearity of Josephson junctions to introduce a controlled, tunable, nonlinear inductance to a thin film coplanar waveguide resonator. Considering the device as a potential quantum optical component in the microwave regime, we create a sensitive bifurcation amplifier and then demonstrate spectroscopy of other resonant modes via the intermode coupling. We find that the sensitivity of the device approaches within a factor two quantitative agreement with a quantum model by Dykman, but is limited by a noise that has its source(s) on-chip.

The voltage oscillations which occur in an ideally current-biased Josephson junction, were proposed to make a current standard for metrology. We demonstrate similar oscillations in a more complex Josephson circuit derived from the Cooper pair box: the quantronium. When a constant current I is injected in the gate capacitor of this device, oscillations develop at the frequency fB=I/2e, with e the electron charge. We detect these oscillations through the sidebands induced at multiples of fB in the spectrum of a microwave signal reflected on the circuit, up to currents I exceeding 100 pA. We discuss the potential interest of this current to frequency conversion experiment for metrology., Comment: To be published in Physical Review Letters

Bloch oscillations predicted to occur in current-biased single Josephson junctions have eluded direct observation up to now. Here, we demonstrate similar Bloch oscillations in a slightly richer Josephson circuit, the quantronium. The quantronium is a Bloch transistor with two small junctions in series, defining an island, in parallel with a larger junction. In the ground state, the microwave impedance of the device is modulated periodically with the charge on the gate capacitor coupled to the transistor island. When a current flows across this capacitor, the impedance modulation occurs at the Bloch frequency, which yields Bloch sidebands in the spectrum of a reflected continuous microwave signal. We have measured this spectrum, and compared it to predictions based on a simple model for the circuit. We discuss the interest of this experiment for metrology and for mesoscopic physics.

Decoherence in quantum bit circuits is presently a major limitation to their use for quantum computing purposes. We present experiments, inspired from NMR, that characterise decoherence in a particular superconducting quantum bit circuit, the quantronium. We introduce a general framework for the analysis of decoherence, based on the spectral densities of the noise sources coupled to the qubit. Analysis of our measurements within this framework indicates a simple model for the noise sources acting on the qubit. We discuss various methods to fight decoherence., Comment: Long paper. 65 pages, 18 Figures

Different nanofabricated superconducting circuits based on Josephson junctions have already achieved a degree of quantum coherence sufficient to demonstrate coherent superpositions of their quantum states. These circuits are considered for implementing quantum bits, which are the building blocks for the recently proposed quantum computer designs. We report experiments in which the state of a quantum bit circuit, the quantronium, is efficiently manipulated using methods inspired from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)., Comment: latex CollinPRLsub.tex, 6 files, 5 figures, 6 pages http://www-drecam.cea.fr/spec/articles/S04/011 [SPEC-S04/011], submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett