Quantum many-body dynamics in optomechanical arrays

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex quantum dynamics of optomechanical arrays, revealing a transition from incoherent to phase-coherent mechanical oscillations driven by intercellular coupling, with potential experimental realizations.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of many-body quantum phases in optomechanical arrays using Gutzwiller and semiclassical methods, highlighting a phase transition driven by coupling strength.

Findings

Incoherent mechanical motion at weak coupling due to quantum noise.

Transition to phase-coherent oscillations with increased coupling.

Proposes realistic experimental implementation in optomechanical crystals.

Abstract

We study the nonlinear driven dissipative quantum dynamics of an array of optomechanical systems. At each site of such an array, a localized mechanical mode interacts with a laser-driven cavity mode via radiation pressure, and both photons and phonons can hop between neighboring sites. The competition between coherent interaction and dissipation gives rise to a rich phase diagram characterizing the optical and mechanical many-body states. For weak intercellular coupling, the mechanical motion at different sites is incoherent due to the influence of quantum noise. When increasing the coupling strength, however, we observe a transition towards a regime of phase-coherent mechanical oscillations. We employ a Gutzwiller ansatz as well as semiclassical Langevin equations on finite lattices, and we propose a realistic experimental implementation in optomechanical crystals.