Bifurcation Oscillator as an Advanced Sensor for Quantum State Control.

We study bifurcation behavior of a high-quality (high-Q) Josephson oscillator coupled to a superconducting qubit. It is shown that the probability of capture into the state of dynamic equilibrium is sensitive to qubit states. On this basis we present a new measurement method for the superposition state of a qubit due to its influence on transition probabilities between oscillator levels located in the energy region near the classical separatrix. The quantum-mechanical behavior of a bifurcation oscillator is also studied, which makes it possible to understand the mechanism of "entanglement" of oscillator and qubit states during the measurement process. The optimal parameters of the driving current and the state of the oscillator are found for performing one-qubit gates with the required precision, when the influence on the qubit from measurement back-action is minimal. A measurement protocol for state populations of the qubit entangled with the oscillator is presented.

A superconducting adiabatic neuron in a quantum regime.

We explore the dynamics of an adiabatic neural cell of a perceptron artificial neural network in a quantum regime. This mode of cell operation is assumed for a hybrid system of a classical neural network whose configuration is dynamically adjusted by a quantum co-processor. Analytical and numerical studies take into account non-adiabatic processes as well as dissipation, which leads to smoothing of quantum coherent oscillations. The obtained results indicate the conditions under which the neuron possesses the required sigmoid activation function.

Fano-type Effect in Hydrogen-Terminated Pure Nanodiamond.

Two novel properties, unique for semiconductors, a negative electron affinity and a high p-type surface electrical conductivity, were discovered in diamond at the end of the last century. Both properties appear when the diamond surface is hydrogenated. A natural question arises: is the influence of the surface hydrogen on diamond limited only to the electrical properties? Here, for the first time to our knowledge, we observe a transparency peak at 1328 cm-1 in the infrared absorption of hydrogen-terminated pure (undoped) nanodiamonds. This new optical property is ascribed to Fano-type destructive interference between zone-center optical phonons and free carriers (holes) appearing in the near-surface layer of hydrogenated nanodiamond. This work opens the way to explore the physics of electron-phonon coupling in undoped semiconductors and promises the application of H-terminated nanodiamonds as a new optical material with induced transparency in the infrared optical range.

Classical and quantum dissipative dynamics in Josephson junctions: An Arnold problem, bifurcation, and capture into resonance.

We theoretically study the phase dynamics in Josephson junctions, which maps onto the oscillatory motion of a pointlike particle in the washboard potential. Under appropriate driving and damping conditions, the Josephson phase undergoes intriguing bistable dynamics near a saddle point in the quasienergy landscape. The bifurcation mechanism plays a critical role in superconducting quantum circuits with relevance to nondemolition measurements such as high-fidelity readout of qubit states. We address the question "what is the probability of capture into either basin of attraction?" and answer it concerning both classical and quantum dynamics. Consequently, we derive the Arnold probability and numerically analyze its implementation of the controlled dynamical switching between two steady states under the various nonequilibrium conditions.

Resonance and phase shift in an open Aharonov-Bohm ring with an embedded quantum dot.

The transmission and phase properties of electron transport through a quantum dot (QD) with variable coupling to a third-terminal probe are investigated analytically for the case of the QD connected directly to source and drain reservoirs and when the QD is embedded in one arm of an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) ring. Using the tight-binding model, explicit analytical expressions of the transmission through the QD for each case are given. Expressions for the conductance with coupling to the third terminal, which breaks unitarity and phase-locking, are also given. It is shown that in a three-terminal interferometer the zero of the Fano resonance in the transmission moves off the real energy axis for finite values of the coupling parameter. The zero orbits around the pole in the complex energy plane as a function of magnetic flux through the ring, and can be returned to the real energy axis unless the coupling parameter exceeds a critical value. With the QD embedded in one arm of the AB ring, the electron transmission and the transmission phase, and the phase of the AB oscillations, are described in relation to the degree of coupling to the third-terminal probe which opens the interferometer. By tuning the degree of coupling to the probe, it is shown that the phase of the AB oscillations can be made to match the intrinsic phase of the QD, facilitating experimental characterization of the phase response of the QD.

Localization of phonon polaritons in disordered polar media.

The localization of the hybrid modes of phonons and photons in polar matter is investigated in the presence of random scatterers theoretically. We employ the self-consistent generalized Born-Huang approach to derive effective equations describing the phonon-polariton fields. Based on these equations, the density of states and various localization properties are exploited in two-dimensional systems both analytically and numerically within the framework of the Anderson model with a non-Hermitian effective Hamiltonian. Consequently, it is shown that the disorder effect brings some intriguing features which include the appearance of the localized states in the polariton bottleneck in the energy spectrum and the collapse of the energy gap. In addition, an analysis is given of the polariton level-spacing distribution.