Decoherence-Induced Exceptional Points in a Dissipative Superconducting Qubit

Open quantum systems interacting with an environment exhibit dynamics described by the combination of dissipation and coherent Hamiltonian evolution. Taken together, these effects are captured by a Liouvillian superoperator. The degeneracies of the (generically non-Hermitian) Liouvillian are excepti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2022-03, Vol.128 (11), p.110402-110402, Article 110402
Main Authors: Chen, Weijian, Abbasi, Maryam, Ha, Byung, Erdamar, Serra, Joglekar, Yogesh N, Murch, Kater W
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Open quantum systems interacting with an environment exhibit dynamics described by the combination of dissipation and coherent Hamiltonian evolution. Taken together, these effects are captured by a Liouvillian superoperator. The degeneracies of the (generically non-Hermitian) Liouvillian are exceptional points, which are associated with critical dynamics as the system approaches steady state. We use a superconducting transmon circuit coupled to an engineered environment to observe two different types of Liouvillian exceptional points that arise either from the interplay of energy loss and decoherence or purely due to decoherence. By dynamically tuning the Liouvillian superoperators in real time we observe a non-Hermiticity-induced chiral state transfer. Our study motivates a new look at open quantum system dynamics from the vantage of Liouvillian exceptional points, enabling applications of non-Hermitian dynamics in the understanding and control of open quantum systems.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.128.110402