No Arabic abstract
We propose to use fermionic atoms with degenerate ground and excited internal levels ($F_grightarrow F_e$), loaded into the motional ground state of an optical lattice with two atoms per lattice site, to realize dark states with no radiative decay. The physical mechanism behind the dark states is an interplay of Pauli blocking and multilevel dipolar interactions. The dark states are independent of lattice geometry, can support an extensive number of excitations and can be coherently prepared using a Raman scheme taking advantage of the quantum Zeno effect. These attributes make them appealing for atomic clocks, quantum memories, and quantum information on decoherence free subspaces.
We investigate the subradiance properties of $ngeq 2$ multilevel fermionic atoms loaded into the lowest motional level of a single trap (e.g.~a single optical lattice site or an optical tweezer). As pointed out in our previous work [arXiv:1907.05541], perfectly dark subradiant states emerge from the interplay between fermionic statistics and dipolar interactions. While in [arXiv:1907.05541] we focused on the $n=2$ case, here we provide an in-depth analysis of the single-site dark states for generic filling $n$, and show a tight connection between generic dark states and total angular momentum eigenstates. We show how the latter can also be used to understand the full eigenstate structure of the single-site problem, which we analyze numerically. Apart from this, we discuss two possible schemes to coherently prepare dark states using either a Raman transition or an external magnetic field to lift the Zeeman degeneracy. Although the analysis focuses on the single-site problem, we show that multi-site dark states can be trivially constructed in any geometry out of product states of single-site dark states. Finally, we discuss some possible implementations with alkaline-earth(-like) atoms such as $^{171}$Yb or $^{87}$Sr loaded into optical lattices, where they could be used for potential applications in quantum metrology and quantum information.
Measurement-based quantum computation, an alternative paradigm for quantum information processing, uses simple measurements on qubits prepared in cluster states, a class of multiparty entangled states with useful properties. Here we propose and analyze a scheme that takes advantage of the interplay between spin-orbit coupling and superexchange interactions, in the presence of a coherent drive, to deterministically generate macroscopic arrays of cluster states in fermionic alkaline earth atoms trapped in three dimensional (3D) optical lattices. The scheme dynamically generates cluster states without the need of engineered transport, and is robust in the presence of holes, a typical imperfection in cold atom Mott insulators. The protocol is of particular relevance for the new generation of 3D optical lattice clocks with coherence times $>10$ s, two orders of magnitude larger than the cluster state generation time. We propose the use of collective measurements and time-reversal of the Hamiltonian to benchmark the underlying Ising model dynamics and the generated many-body correlations.
We investigate the collective decay dynamics of atoms with a generic multilevel structure (angular momenta $Fleftrightarrow F$) coupled to two light modes of different polarization inside a cavity. In contrast to two-level atoms, we find that multilevel atoms can harbour eigenstates that are perfectly dark to cavity decay even within the subspace of permutationally symmetric states (collective Dicke manifold). The dark states arise from destructive interference between different internal transitions and are shown to be entangled. Remarkably, the superradiant decay of multilevel atoms can end up stuck in one of these dark states, where a macroscopic fraction of the atoms remains excited. This opens the door to the preparation of entangled dark states of matter through collective dissipation useful for quantum sensing and quantum simulation. Our predictions should be readily observable in current optical cavity experiments with alkaline-earth atoms or Raman-dressed transitions.
We propose a protocol for generating generalized GHZ states using ultracold fermions in 3D optical lattices or optical tweezer arrays. The protocol uses the interplay between laser driving, onsite interactions and external trapping confinement to enforce energetic spin- and position-dependent constraints on the atomic motion. These constraints allow us to transform a local superposition into a GHZ state through a stepwise protocol that flips one site at a time. The protocol requires no site-resolved drives or spin-dependent potentials, exhibits robustness to slow global laser phase drift, and naturally makes use of the harmonic trap that would normally cause difficulties for entanglement-generating protocols in optical lattices. We also discuss an improved protocol that can compensate for holes in the loadout at the cost of increased generation time. The state can immediately be used for quantum-enhanced metrology in 3D optical lattice clocks, opening a window to push the sensitivity of state-of-the-art sensors beyond the standard quantum limit.
Mean-field dynamics of strongly interacting bosons described by hard core bosons with nearest-neighbor attraction has been shown to support two species of solitons: one of Gross-Pitaevskii (GP-type) where the condensate fraction remains dark and a novel non-Gross-Pitaevskii-type (non-GP-type) characterized by brightening of the condensate fraction. Here we study the effects of quantum fluctuations on these solitons using the adaptive time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method, which takes into account the effect of strong correlations. We use local observables as the density, condensate density and correlation functions as well as the entanglement entropy to characterize the stability of the initial states. We find both species of solitons to be stable under quantum evolution for a finite duration, their tolerance to quantum fluctuations being enhanced as the width of the soliton increases. We describe possible experimental realizations in atomic Bose Einstein Condensates, polarized degenerate Fermi gases, and in systems of polar molecules on optical lattices.