Dynamical control of macroscopic quantum tunneling

We show that the quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno effects are realizable for macroscopic quantum tunneling by current-bias modulation in Josephson junctions (and their analogs in atomic condensates).     

Superconductivity-induced macroscopic resonant tunneling

We show analytically and by numerical simulations that the conductance through pi-biased chaotic Josephson junctions is enhanced by several orders of magnitude in the short-wavelength regime. We identify the mechanism behind this effect as macroscopic resonant tunneling through a macroscopic number of low-energy quasidegenerate Andreev levels.     

Nonlinear dynamic phenomena in macroscopic tunneling

Numerical simulations of the NLSE (or GPE) are presented demonstrating emission of short pulses of the matter (light) density formed in the course of tunneling in wave-guided light and/or trapped BEC. The phenomenon is observed under various conditions, for nonlinearities of different signs, zero nonlinearity included. We study, both numerically and analytically, pulsations of matter (light) remaining within the trap and use the results in order to induce emission of sequential pulses by properly narrowing the trap. This allows us to propose a mechanism for a realization of Atom Pulse Laser.     

Dynamical tunneling in mushroom billiards

We study the fundamental question of dynamical tunneling in generic two-dimensional Hamiltonian systems by considering regular-to-chaotic tunneling rates. Experimentally, we use microwave spectra to investigate a mushroom billiard with adjustable foot height. Numerically, we obtain tunneling rates from high precision eigenvalues using the improved method of particular solutions. Analytically, a prediction is given by extending an approach using a fictitious integrable system to billiards. In contrast to previous approaches for billiards, we find agreement with experimental and numerical data without any free parameter.     

Possibility of observing magnetic macroscopic quantum tunneling using a scanning tunneling microscope

A theory describing the detection of magnetic macroscopic quantum tunneling on the basis of current fluctuations in a scanning tunneling microscope is proposed. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1011–1020 (September 1997)     

Probing noise in flux qubits via macroscopic resonant tunneling

Macroscopic resonant tunneling between the two lowest lying states of a bistable rf SQUID is used to characterize noise in a flux qubit. Measurements of the incoherent decay rate as a function of flux bias revealed a Gaussian-shaped profile that is not peaked at the resonance point but is shifted to a bias at which the initial well is higher than the target well. The rms amplitude of the noise, which is proportional to the dephasing rate 1/tauphi, was observed to be weakly dependent on temperature below 70 mK. Analysis of these results indicates that the dominant source of low energy flux noise in this device is a quantum mechanical environment in thermal equilibrium.     

分子磁体中的量子隧穿及宏观量子效应

文章介绍了分子磁体中的量子隧穿和宏观量子效应理论和实验研究的新进展．分子磁体既有宏观磁体特性也呈现纯量子行为，例如磁化矢量的量子隧穿．文章作者解释了如何通过量子隧穿实现宏观量子相干(即薛定谔猫态的相干叠加)和量子态位相干涉．对隧穿率计算的瞬子方法，特别是有限温度隧穿理论及其在分子磁体量子隧穿中的应用也做了简要的阐述．     

Enhancement of macroscopic quantum tunneling by Landau-Zener transitions

Motivated by recent realizations of qubits with a readout by macroscopic quantum tunneling in a Josephson junction, we study the problem of barrier penetration in the presence of coupling to a spin-1 / 2 system. It is shown that, when the diabatic potentials for fixed spin intersect in the barrier region, Landau-Zener transitions lead to an enhancement of the tunneling rate. The effect of these spin flips in imaginary time is in qualitative agreement with experimental observations.     

Aharonov-Casher-effect suppression of macroscopic tunneling of magnetic flux

We suggest a system in which the amplitude of macroscopic flux tunneling can be modulated via the Aharonov-Casher effect. The system is an rf SQUID with the Josephson junction replaced by a Bloch transistor--two junctions separated by a small superconducting island on which the charge can be induced by an external gate voltage. When the Josephson coupling energies of the junctions are equal and the induced charge is q = e, destructive interference between tunneling paths brings the flux tunneling rate to zero. The device may also be useful as a qubit for quantum computation.     

Dynamical control of matter-wave tunneling in periodic potentials

We report on measurements of dynamical suppression of interwell tunneling of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a strongly driven optical lattice. The strong driving is a sinusoidal shaking of the lattice corresponding to a time-varying linear potential, and the tunneling is measured by letting the BEC freely expand in the lattice. The measured tunneling rate is reduced and, for certain values of the shaking parameter, completely suppressed. Our results are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. Furthermore, we have verified that, in general, the strong shaking does not destroy the phase coherence of the BEC, opening up the possibility of realizing quantum phase transitions by using the shaking strength as the control parameter.     

Quantum terahertz electrodynamics and macroscopic quantum tunneling in layered superconductors

We derive a quantum field theory of Josephson plasma waves (JPWs) in layered superconductors, which describes two types of interacting JPW bosonic quanta (one heavy and one lighter). We propose a mechanism of enhancement of macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions. Because of the long-range interaction between junctions in layered superconductors, the calculated MQT escape rate Gamma has a nonlinear dependence on the number of junctions in the stack. We show that the crossover temperature between quantum and thermal escape increases when increasing the number of junctions. This allows us to quantitatively describe striking recent experiments in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta stacks.     

Electrically tunable macroscopic quantum tunneling in a graphene-based Josephson junction

Stochastic switching-current distribution in a graphene-based Josephson junction exhibits a crossover from the classical to quantum regime, revealing the macroscopic quantum tunneling of a Josephson phase particle at low temperatures. Microwave spectroscopy measurements indicate a multiphoton absorption process occurring via discrete energy levels in washboard potential well. The crossover temperature for macroscopic quantum tunneling and the quantized level spacing are controlled with the gate voltage, implying its potential application to gate-tunable superconducting quantum bits.