Reproducing spin lattice models in strongly coupled atom-cavity systems

Abstract

In an array of coupled cavities where the cavities are doped with an atomic V-system, and the two excited levels couple to cavity photons of different polarizations, we show how to construct various spin models employed in characterizing phenomena in condensed matter physics, such as the spin-1/2 Ising, XX, Heisenberg, and XXZ models. The ability to construct networks of arbitrary geometry also allows for the simulation of topological effects. By tuning the number of excitations present, the dimension of the spin to be simulated can be controlled, and mixtures of different spin types produced. The facility of single-site addressing, the use of only the natural hopping photon dynamics without external fields, and the recent experimental advances towards strong coupling, makes the prospect of using these arrays as efficient quantum simulators promising.

4 pages, 3 figures. v3: References added

References in corpus (9)

• Quantum nature of a strongly-coupled single quantum dot-cavity system
• Resolving photon number states in a superconducting circuit
• Quantum phase transitions of light
• Implementation of Spin Hamiltonians in Optical Lattices
• Geometric phases and criticality in spin chain systems
• Mott-insulating and glassy phases of polaritons in 1D arrays of coupled cavities
• Effective spin systems in coupled micro-cavities
• Strong photon non-linearities and photonic Mott insulators
• Atomic Entanglement vs Photonic Visibility for Quantum Criticality of Hybrid System

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Separability and ground state factorization in quantum spin systems
• Simulation of high-spin Heisenberg models in coupled cavities
• Entanglement Theory and the Quantum Simulation of Many-Body Physics
• Photon and polariton fluctuations in arrays of QED-cavities