Using Matrix-Product States for Open Quantum Many-Body Systems: Efficient Algorithms for Markovian and Non-Markovian Time-Evolution.

This paper presents an efficient algorithm for the time evolution of open quantum many-body systems using matrix-product states (MPS) proposing a convenient structure of the MPS-architecture, which exploits the initial state of system and reservoir. By doing so, numerically expensive re-ordering protocols are circumvented. It is applicable to systems with a Markovian type of interaction, where only the present state of the reservoir needs to be taken into account. Its adaption to a non-Markovian type of interaction between the many-body system and the reservoir is demonstrated, where the information backflow from the reservoir needs to be included in the computation. Also, the derivation of the basis in the quantum stochastic Schrödinger picture is shown. As a paradigmatic model, the Heisenberg spin chain with nearest-neighbor interaction is used. It is demonstrated that the algorithm allows for the access of large systems sizes. As an example for a non-Markovian type of interaction, the generation of highly unusual steady states in the many-body system with coherent feedback control is demonstrated for a chain length of N=30.

Wigner Time Delay Induced by a Single Quantum Dot.

Resonant scattering of weak coherent laser pulses on a single two-level system realized in a semiconductor quantum dot is investigated with respect to a time delay between incoming and scattered light. This type of time delay was predicted by Wigner in 1955 for purely coherent scattering and was confirmed for an atomic system in 2013 [R. Bourgain et al., Opt. Lett. 38, 1963 (2013)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.38.001963]. In the presence of electron-phonon interaction, we observe deviations from Wigner's theory related to incoherent and strongly non-Markovian scattering processes which are hard to quantify via a detuning-independent pure dephasing time. We observe detuning-dependent Wigner delays of up to 530 ps in our experiments which are supported quantitatively by microscopic theory allowing for pure dephasing times of up to 950 ps.

Quantum-optical spectroscopy of a two-level system using an electrically driven micropillar laser as a resonant excitation source.

Two-level emitters are the main building blocks of photonic quantum technologies and are model systems for the exploration of quantum optics in the solid state. Most interesting is the strict resonant excitation of such emitters to control their occupation coherently and to generate close to ideal quantum light, which is of utmost importance for applications in photonic quantum technology. To date, the approaches and experiments in this field have been performed exclusively using bulky lasers, which hinders the application of resonantly driven two-level emitters in compact photonic quantum systems. Here we address this issue and present a concept for a compact resonantly driven single-photon source by performing quantum-optical spectroscopy of a two-level system using a compact high-ß microlaser as the excitation source. The two-level system is based on a semiconductor quantum dot (QD), which is excited resonantly by a fiber-coupled electrically driven micropillar laser. We dress the excitonic state of the QD under continuous wave excitation, and trigger the emission of single photons with strong multi-photon suppression ( g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) = 0.02 ) and high photon indistinguishability (V = 57±9%) via pulsed resonant excitation at 156 MHz. These results clearly demonstrate the high potential of our resonant excitation scheme, which can pave the way for compact electrically driven quantum light sources with excellent quantum properties to enable the implementation of advanced quantum communication protocols.

Path-Controlled Time Reordering of Paired Photons in a Dressed Three-Level Cascade.

The two-photon dressing of a "three-level ladder" system, here the ground state, the exciton, and the biexciton of a semiconductor quantum dot, leads to new eigenstates and allows one to manipulate the time ordering of the paired photons without unitary postprocessing. We show that, after spectral postselection of the single dressed states, the time ordering of the cascaded photons can be removed or conserved. Our joint experimental and theoretical study demonstrates the high potential of a "ladder" system to be a versatile source of orthogonally polarized, bunched or antibunched pairs of photons.

Optical feedback-enhanced photon entanglement from a biexciton cascade.

In a solid-state platform for quantum information science, the biexciton cascade is an important source of entangled photons. However, the entanglement is usually reduced considerably by the fine-structure splitting of the exciton levels. We show how to counteract this loss of entanglement by applying optical feedback. Substantial control and enhancement of photon entanglement can be achieved by coherently feeding back a part of the emitted signal, e.g., by a mirror, and by tuning the feedback phase and delay time. We present full quantum-mechanical calculations, which include the external photon mode continuum, and discuss the mechanisms leading to the above effects.

Single photon delayed feedback: a way to stabilize intrinsic quantum cavity electrodynamics.

We propose a scheme to control cavity quantum electrodynamics in the single photon limit by delayed feedback. In our approach a single emitter-cavity system, operating in the weak coupling limit, can be driven into the strong coupling-type regime by an external mirror: The external loop produces Rabi oscillations directly connected to the electron-photon coupling strength. As an expansion of typical cavity quantum electrodynamics, we treat the quantum correlation of external and internal light modes dynamically and demonstrate a possible way to implement a fully quantum mechanical time-delayed feedback. Our theoretical approach proposes a way to experimentally feedback control quantum correlations in the single photon limit.

Collective light emission revisited: reservoir induced coherence.

We study the collective emission of a few emitters (up to three) in a cavity. In addition to the radiation coupling responsible for sub- and superradiance, we investigate emitters additionally coupled through a joint carrier reservoir. For such emitters, typically embedded in a solid state environment, the carrier reservoir provides a continuous pumping mechanism for the steady state emission. We show that the statistical properties of the emitted light depend strongly on the interaction between the emitters and the reservoir. Unexpectedly, the presence of the reservoir enhances the coherence of the emitted light already for a few emitters. This results from the fact that the carrier reservoir introduces new many-body correlations to the electronic transition and in this way suppresses multiphoton processes.

Optically driven quantum dots as source of coherent cavity phonons: a proposal for a phonon laser scheme.

We present a microscopically based scheme for the generation of coherent cavity phonons (phonon laser) by an optically driven semiconductor quantum dot coupled to a THz acoustic nanocavity. External laser pump light on an anti-Stokes resonance creates an effective Lambda system within a two-level dot that leads to coherent phonon statistics. We use an inductive equation of motion method to estimate a realistic parameter range for an experimental realization of such phonon lasers. This scheme for the creation of nonequilibrium phonons is robust with respect to radiative and phononic damping and only requires optical Rabi frequencies of the order of the electron-phonon coupling strength.

Antibunching of thermal radiation by a room-temperature phonon bath: a numerically solvable model for a strongly interacting light-matter-reservoir system.

Progress in semiconductor technology introduces a new platform for quantum optics studies in solid state: a quantum dot strongly coupled to a cavity mode. We present a numerically solvable model for the combined electron, photon, and phonon dynamics. For a cavity mode prepared in a Fock state, the model reproduces the Jaynes-Cumming solution and interaction with a phonon bath leads to a higher value for the intensity-intensity correlation function: g;(2)(0). In contrast, for an initial thermal photon distribution, the phonon-bath interaction gives a counterintuitive reduction in g;(2)(0), resulting in the classical photon distribution evolving into a nonclassical one.

Few-photon model of the optical emission of semiconductor quantum dots.

The Jaynes-Cummings model provides a well established theoretical framework for single electron two level systems in a radiation field. Similar exactly solvable models for semiconductor light emitters such as quantum dots dominated by many particle interactions are not known. We access these systems by a generalized cluster expansion, the photon-probability cluster expansion: a reliable approach for few-photon dynamics in many body electron systems. As a first application, we discuss vacuum Rabi oscillations and show that their amplitude determines the number of electrons in the quantum dot.