01333nas a2200169 4500008004100000245008100041210006900122260001500191300001100206490000700217520083100224100002001055700001501075700001701090700001901107856003701126 2017 eng d00aThermodynamic limits for optomechanical systems with conservative potentials0 aThermodynamic limits for optomechanical systems with conservativ c2017/11/13 a1841060 v963 a

The mechanical force from light – radiation pressure – provides an intrinsic nonlinear interaction. Consequently, optomechanical systems near their steady state, such as the canonical optical spring, can display non-analytic behavior as a function of external parameters. This non-analyticity, a key feature of thermodynamic phase transitions, suggests that there could be an effective thermodynamic description of optomechanical systems. Here we explicitly define the thermodynamic limit for optomechanical systems and derive a set of sufficient constraints on the system parameters as the mechanical system grows large. As an example, we show how these constraints can be satisfied in a system with Z2 symmetry and derive a free energy, allowing us to characterize this as an equilibrium phase transition.

1 aRagole, Stephen1 aXu, Haitan1 aLawall, John1 aTaylor, J., M. uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/1707.0577101274nas a2200181 4500008004100000245010400041210006900145260001500214300001200229490000800241520071300249100002100962700001500983700002100998700001901019700001701038856003701055 2015 eng d00aFrom membrane-in-the-middle to mirror-in-the-middle with a high-reflectivity sub-wavelength grating0 aFrom membraneinthemiddle to mirrorinthemiddle with a highreflect c2015/01/02 a81 - 880 v5273 aWe demonstrate a "membrane in the middle" optomechanical system using a silicon nitride membrane patterned as a subwavelength grating. The grating has a reflectivity of over 99.8%, effectively creating two sub-cavities, with free spectral ranges of 6 GHz, optically coupled via photon tunneling. Measurements of the transmission and reflection spectra show an avoided crossing where the two sub-cavities simultaneously come into resonance, with a frequency splitting of 54 MHz. We derive expressions for the lineshapes of the symmetric and antisymmetric modes at the avoided crossing, and infer the grating reflection, transmission, absorption, and scattering through comparison with the experimental data. 1 aStambaugh, Corey1 aXu, Haitan1 aKemiktarak, Utku1 aTaylor, J., M.1 aLawall, John uhttp://arxiv.org/abs/1407.1709v101704nas a2200169 4500008004100000245006100041210006100102260001500163520120900178100001501387700002101402700001701423700002001440700001701460700001901477856003801496 2015 eng d00aObservation of optomechanical buckling phase transitions0 aObservation of optomechanical buckling phase transitions c2015/10/163 a

Correlated phases of matter provide long-term stability for systems as diverse as solids, magnets, and potential exotic quantum materials. Mechanical systems, such as relays and buckling transition spring switches can yield similar stability by exploiting non-equilibrium phase transitions. Curiously, in the optical domain, observations of such phase transitions remain elusive. However, efforts to integrate optical and mechanical systems -- optomechanics -- suggest that a hybrid approach combining the quantum control of optical systems with the engineerability of mechanical systems may provide a new avenue for such explorations. Here we report the first observation of the buckling of an optomechanical system, in which transitions between stable mechanical states corresponding to both first- and second-order phase transitions are driven by varying laser power and detuning. Our results enable new applications in photonics and, given rapid progress in pushing optomechanical systems into the quantum regime, the potential for explorations of quantum phase transitions.

1 aXu, Haitan1 aKemiktarak, Utku1 aFan, Jingyun1 aRagole, Stephen1 aLawall, John1 aTaylor, J., M. uhttp://arxiv.org/abs/1510.04971v101255nas a2200133 4500008004100000245010500041210006900146260001400215490000700229520081400236100001501050700001901065856003701084 2011 eng d00aUnified approach to topological quantum computation with anyons: From qubit encoding to Toffoli gate0 aUnified approach to topological quantum computation with anyons  c2011/7/260 v843 aTopological quantum computation may provide a robust approach for encoding and manipulating information utilizing the topological properties of anyonic quasi-particle excitations. We develop an efficient means to map between dense and sparse representations of quantum information (qubits) and a simple construction of multi-qubit gates, for all anyon models from Chern-Simons-Witten SU(2)$_k$ theory that support universal quantum computation by braiding ($k\geq 3,\ k \neq 4$). In the process, we show how the constructions of topological quantum memory and gates for $k=2,4$ connect naturally to those for $k\geq 3,\ k \neq 4$, unifying these concepts in a simple framework. Furthermore, we illustrate potential extensions of these ideas to other anyon models outside of Chern-Simons-Witten field theory. 1 aXu, Haitan1 aTaylor, J., M. uhttp://arxiv.org/abs/1001.4085v2