Scientific Calendar Event



Starts 26 Jun 2013 17:00
Ends 26 Jun 2013 20:00
Central European Time
ICTP
Leonardo da Vinci Building Luigi Stasi Seminar Room
Strada Costiera, 11 I - 34151 Trieste (Italy)
We present a case for the realization of Majorana-like edge modes, through the quantum Ising (QI) dynamics, in the Rabi lattice. A Rabi lattice is an array of the Rabi quantum cavities where each cavity has a two-level atom (or a spin-1/2) coupled via dipole interaction to a single photon (bosonic) mode, and the inter-cavity coupling causes photon hopping. We show that the Rabi lattice model rigorously tends to the QI model in the limit of strong atom-photon coupling. This QI dynamics drives the para- to ferro-electric quantum phase transition in the Rabi lattice, and also guarantees two Majorana-like edge modes in the ordered phase on an open chain. We identify an observable signature of these modes, and check their stability against the detrimental perturbations such as a stray electric field. We find that the QI Majorana modes are not as fragile as one believed, despite no topological protection.
  • S. Fairclough