Quantum simulation of weak-field light-matter interactions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum simulation framework for modeling weak-field light-matter interactions using a few discrete bosonic modes, enabling efficient simulations of complex optical phenomena at the quantum level.

Contribution

The work presents a novel scheme to simulate continuum light-matter interactions with limited bosonic modes via a Green's function formalism, suitable for platforms like trapped ions.

Findings

Effective simulation of continuum fields with few modes

Demonstration of response function extraction from quantum simulations

Potential to model complex many-body light-matter interactions

Abstract

Simulation of the interaction of light with matter, including at the few-photon level, is important for understanding the optical and optoelectronic properties of materials, and for modeling next-generation non-linear spectroscopies that use entangled light. At the few-photon level the quantum properties of the electromagnetic field must be accounted for with a quantized treatment of the field, and then such simulations quickly become intractable, especially if the matter subsystem must be modeled with a large number of degrees of freedom, as can be required to accurately capture many-body effects and quantum noise sources. Motivated by this we develop a quantum simulation framework for simulating such light-matter interactions on platforms with controllable bosonic degrees of freedom, such as vibrational modes in the trapped ion platform. The key innovation in our work is a scheme for simulating interactions with a continuum field using only a few discrete bosonic modes, which is enabled by a Green's function (response function) formalism. We develop the simulation approach, sketch how the simulation can be performed using trapped ions, and then illustrate the method with numerical examples. Our work expands the reach of quantum simulation to important light-matter interaction models and illustrates the advantages of extracting dynamical quantities such as response functions from quantum simulations.