Optomechanics assisted with a qubit: From dissipative state preparation to many-body physics

TL;DR

This paper introduces protocols using a single atom in an optomechanical cavity to engineer quantum states and many-body physics, achieving high-fidelity superpositions and non-classical states through dissipation and coherent control.

Contribution

It presents novel methods for dissipative state preparation and many-body state engineering in optomechanical systems with a qubit, using perturbation theory and numerical analysis.

Findings

High-fidelity superposition of Fock states achieved

Non-classical many-body states can be prepared

Protocols applicable to various qubit-mechanical systems

Abstract

We propose and analyze nonlinear optomechanical protocols that can be implemented by adding a single atom to an optomechanical cavity. In particular, we show how to engineer the environment in order to dissipatively prepare the mechanical oscillator in a superposition of Fock states with fidelity close to one. Furthermore, we discuss how a single atom in a cavity with several mechanical oscillators can be exploited to realize nonlinear many-body physics by stroboscopically driving the mechanical oscillators. We show how to prepare non-classical many-body states by either applying coherent protocols or engineering dissipation. The analysis of the protocols is carried out using a perturbation theory for degenerate Liouvillians and numerical tools. Our results apply to other systems where a qubit is coupled to a mechanical oscillator via a bosonic mode, e.g., in cavity quantum electromechanics.