Connecting nth order generalised quantum Rabi models: Emergence of nonlinear spin-boson coupling via spin rotations

TL;DR

This paper shows that nonlinear nth order quantum Rabi models can be approximately realized from linear models through spin rotations, enabling new analytical solutions in the ultrastrong coupling regime.

Contribution

It establishes an approximate equivalence between generalised quantum Rabi models and their nth order counterparts using spin rotations, facilitating access to nonlinear couplings.

Findings

Nonlinear spin-boson couplings can be approximated from linear models.

The equivalence holds over a wide parameter range.

New analytical solutions for ultrastrong coupling dynamics are proposed.

Abstract

We establish an approximate equivalence between a generalised quantum Rabi model and its nth order counterparts where spin-boson interactions are nonlinear as they comprise a simultaneous exchange of $n$ bosonic excitations. Although there exists no unitary transformation between these models, we demonstrate their equivalence to a good approximation in a wide range of parameters. This shows that nonlinear spin-boson couplings, i.e. nth order quantum Rabi models, are accessible to quantum systems with only linear coupling between boson and spin modes by simply adding spin rotations and after an appropriate transformation. Furthermore, our result prompts novel approximate analytical solutions to the dynamics of the quantum Rabi model in the ultrastrong coupling regime improving previous approaches.