Erlangen 2018 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 41: Poster Session IIIa

A 41.10: Poster

Thursday, March 8, 2018, 16:15–18:15, Orangerie

Quantum synchronisation in a bistable system — •Matthew Jessop, Andrew Armour, and Weibin Li — School of Physics and Astronomy, and Centre for the Mathematics and Theoretical Physics of Quantum Non-Equilibrium Systems, University of Nottingham, UK

Classically, two weakly coupled oscillators will lock their relative phase, i.e. the so-called phase synchronisation. In the quantum regime, however, the uncertainty principle requires that a probability distribution description must be instead used. We conduct a theoretical study of quantum synchronisation in a system of two trapped ions in an electric Paul trap. Vibrations (phonons) of each ion are laser cooled to the Lamb-Dicke regime. Using a driving laser, phonons are coupled to electronic states of the ion under a two-phonon resonance condition. When the laser driving strength is weak, phonon excitations are suppressed while a limit cycle is reached at strong driving. We find a bistable regime at the intermediate driving strength where the zero-phonon state and a limit cycle coexist. We explore the emergence of quantum synchronisation when two identical ions are coupled through dipole-dipole interactions. Specifically we focus on the bistable regime where the zero-phonon state and limit cycle synchronise in different ways, leading to distinct phase distributions.