A. N. Omelyanchouk

Weak continuous monitoring of a flux qubit using coplanar waveguide resonator

We study a flux qubit in a coplanar waveguide resonator by measuring transmission through the system. In our system with the flux qubit decoupled galvanically from the resonator, the intermediate coupling regime is achieved. In this regime, dispersive readout is possible with weak back action on the qubit. The detailed theoretical analysis and simulations give good agreement with the experimental data and allow us to make the qubit characterization.

Resonant excitations of single and two-qubit systems coupled to a tank circuit

The interaction of flux qubits with a low frequency tank circuit is studied. It is shown that changes in the state of the interacting qubits influence the effective inductance and resistance of the circuit, which is the essence of the so-called impedance measurement technique. The multiphoton resonant excitations in both single flux qubits and pairs of coupled flux qubits are investigated. In particular, we compare our theoretical results with recent spectroscopy measurements, Landau-Zener interferometry, and the multiphoton fringes.

Amplification and attenuation of a probe signal by doubly dressed states

We analyze a system composed of a qubit coupled to the electromagnetic fields in two high quality quantum oscillators. A particular realization of such a system is the superconducting qubit coupled to a transmission-line resonator driven by two signals with frequencies close to the resonators harmonics. This doubly driven system can be described in terms of the doubly dressed qubit states. Our calculations demonstrate the possibility to change the number of photons in the resonator and the transmission of the fundamental-mode signal over a wide parameter range exploiting resonances with the dressed qubit. Experiments show that in the case of high quality resonators the dressed energy levels and corresponding resonance conditions can be probed, even for high driving amplitudes. The interaction of the qubit with photons of two harmonics can be used for the creation of quantum amplifiers or attenuators.

Multiphoton transitions in Josephson-junction qubits (Review Article)

Two basic physical models, a two-level system and a harmonic oscillator, are realized on the mesoscopic scale as coupled qubit and resonator. The realistic system includes moreover the electronics for controlling the distance between the qubit energy levels and their populations and to read out the resonator’s state, as well as the unavoidable dissipative environment. Such rich system is interesting both for the study of fundamental quantum phenomena on the mesoscopic scale and as a promising system for future electronic devices. We present recent results for the driven superconducting qubit–resonator system, where the resonator can be realized as an LC circuit or a nanomechanical resonator. Most of the results can be described by the semiclassical theory, where a qubit is treated as a quantum two-level system coupled to the classical driving field and the classical resonator. Application of this theory allows to describe many phenomena for the single and two coupled superconducting qubits, among which ar...

Noise-induced quantum coherence and persistent Rabi oscillations in a Josephson flux qubit

We predict theoretically the enhancement of quantum coherence in a superconducting flux qubit by a classical external noise. First, the off-diagonal components of the qubit density matrix are increased. Second, in the presence of both ac drive and noise, the resulting Rabi oscillations survive ``in perpetuity, i.e., for times greatly exceeding the Rabi decay time in a noiseless system. The coherence-enhancing effects of the classical noise can be considered as a manifestation of quantum stochastic resonance and are relevant to experimental techniques, such as Rabi spectroscopy.

Two-qubit parametric amplifier: Large amplification of weak signals

Using numerical simulations, we show that two coupled qubits can amplify a weak signal about hundredfold. This can be achieved if the two qubits are biased simultaneously by this weak signal and a strong pump signal, both of which having frequencies close to the inter-level transitions in the system. The weak signal strongly affects the spectrum generated by the strong pumping drive by producing and controlling mixed harmonics with amplitudes of the order of the main harmonic of the strong drive. We show that the amplification is robust with respect to noise, with an intensity of the order of the weak signal. When deviating from the optimal regime (corresponding to strong qubit coupling and a weak-signal frequency equal to the inter-level transition frequency) the proposed amplifier becomes less efficient, but it can still considerably enhance a weak signal (by several tens). We therefore propose to use coupled qubits as a combined parametric amplifier and frequency shifter.

Multiphoton excitations and inverse population in a system of two flux qubits

We study the multiphoton spectroscopy of artificial solid-s tate four-level quantum system. This system is formed by two coupled superconducting flux qubits. When mult iple driving frequency of the applied microwaves matches the energy difference between any two levels, the transition to the upper level is induced. We demonstrate two types of the multi-photon transitions: direct transitions between two levels and ladder-type transitions via an intermediate level. Our calculations sh ow, that for the latter transitions, in particular, the inverse population of the excited state with respect to the gro und one is realized. These processes can be useful for the control of the level population for the multilevel sc alable quantum systems.

Distinguishing quantum from classical oscillations in a driven phase qubit

Rabi oscillations are coherent transitions in a quantum two-level system under the influence of a resonant drive, with a much lower frequency dependent on the perturbation amplitude. These serve as one of the signatures of quantum coherent evolution in mesoscopic systems. It was shown recently (Gronbech-Jensen N and Cirillo M 2005 Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 067001) that in phase qubits (current-biased Josephson junctions) this effect can be mimicked by classical oscillations arising due to the anharmonicity of the effective potential. Nevertheless, we find qualitative differences between the classical and quantum effects. Firstly, while the quantum Rabi oscillations can be produced by the subharmonics of the resonant frequency ω10 (multiphoton processes), the classical effect also exists when the system is excited at the overtones, nω10. Secondly, the shape of the resonance is, in the classical case, characteristically asymmetric, whereas quantum resonances are described by symmetric Lorentzians. Thirdly, the anharmonicity of the potential results in the negative shift of the resonant frequency in the classical case, in contrast to the positive Bloch–Siegert shift in the quantum case. We show that in the relevant range of parameters these features allow us to distinguish confidently the bona fide Rabi oscillations from their classical Doppelganger.

Pseudo-Rabi oscillations in superconducting flux qubits in the classical regime

Nonlinear effects in mesoscopic devices can have both quantum and classical origins. We show that a three-Josephson-junction (3JJ) flux qubit in the _classical_ regime can produce low-frequency oscillations in the presence of an external field in resonance with the (high-frequency) harmonic mode of the system,

Dissipative dynamics of a two-qubit system: Four-level lasing

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