C. Ciuti – 15 octobre

Driven photonic lattice systems have sparked a considerable interest for the generation of exotic phases of light and for the realization of photonic quantum simulators that are now accessible in experimental platforms such as semiconductor microstructures and superconducting circuit QED lattices. In the broad context of quantum simulation, there are at least two intriguing theoretical challenges in the field: on one side, it is important to reveal what kind of physical systems an open-system quantum simulator can map and faithfully represent; on the other side, a crucial mission of theorists is to develop new methods to describe complex quantum systems with predictions that can be experimentally tested in a quantum simulator. After a general introduction and a review of the main theoretical and experimental advances, we will present recent results on photonic systems in the presence of two-photon driving and two-photon losses. These quadratically-driven photonic systems are conveniently exploited to create photonic qubits and for the generation of photonic Schroedinger’s cat states. We will show how 1D and 2D lattices of quadratically-driven electromagnetic resonators can simulate magnetic phase transitions in the quantum critical regime.