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Supersymmetry in quantum optics and in spin-orbit coupled systems
Michael Tomka1, Mikhail Pletyukhov2, Vladimir Gritsev3
1Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, 02215 Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Scientific Reports
|August 20, 2015
Summary
We discovered a robust Bose-Fermi duality in light-matter interactions, revealing unbroken supersymmetry (SUSY). This quantum phenomenon is resilient to decoherence and disorder, with applications in quantum technologies.
Area of Science:
- Quantum mechanics
- Optics
- Condensed matter physics
Background:
- Light-matter interactions are fundamentally described by coupled bosonic (photons) and fermionic (atoms) systems.
- A natural Bose-Fermi duality exists in these interactions, suggesting deeper underlying symmetries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify conditions promoting Bose-Fermi duality to unbroken supersymmetry (SUSY) in light-matter systems.
- To investigate the robustness of this SUSY against decoherence and dissipation.
- To explore potential applications in quantum information and simulation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of parameter space in a basic light-matter interacting system.
- Investigation of the stationary density matrix and its properties under dissipative dynamics.
- Examination of condensed matter systems with spin-orbit couplings.
Main Results:
- Unbroken supersymmetry (SUSY) was found in specific parameter submanifolds of light-matter interactions.
- SUSY was demonstrated to be robust against decoherence and dissipation.
- A topologically protected degenerate subspace in the stationary density matrix was identified, governed by the Witten index.
- Similar SUSY structures were found in condensed matter systems with spin-orbit coupling, indicating robustness against disorder.
Conclusions:
- The discovered SUSY in light-matter and condensed matter systems offers robustness against environmental noise and disorder.
- These SUSY systems can serve as platforms for quantum information processing and quantum simulation of SUSY field theories.
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