Topological transport in the steady state of a quantum particle with dissipation

TL;DR

This paper investigates topological transport phenomena in a dissipative quantum system, revealing phase-dependent velocities, topological bound states at boundaries, and potential realization in cavity QED setups.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking steady-state velocity to topological invariants and explores boundary states as decoherence-free subspaces, with experimental proposals.

Findings

Steady-state velocity proportional to topological winding number

Presence of topological bound states at phase boundaries

Dark subspaces form when winding number changes by more than one

Abstract

We study topological transport in the steady state of a quantum particle hopping on a one-dimensional lattice in the presence of dissipation. The model exhibits a rich phase structure, with the average particle velocity in the steady state playing the role of a non-equilibrium order parameter. Within each phase the average velocity is proportional to a topological winding number and to the inverse of the average time between quantum jumps. While the average velocity depends smoothly on system parameters within each phase, nonanalytic behavior arises at phase transition points. We show that certain types of spatial boundaries between regions where different phases are realized host a number of topological bound states which is equal to the difference between the winding numbers characterizing the phases on the two sides of the boundary. These topological bound states are attractors for the dynamics; in cases where the winding number changes by more than one when crossing the boundary, the subspace of topological bound states forms a dark, decoherence free subspace for the dissipative system. Finally we discuss how the dynamics we describe can be realized in a simple cavity or circuit QED setup, where the topological boundary mode emerges as a robust coherent state of the light field.