Quantum Simulation with Polariton, Circuit-QED, and Rydberg Lattices

Project ID: 2531bd1698

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Research Area(s): Quantum Optics and Information
Quantum devices components and systems
Quantum Fluids and Solids

UCL Lead department: Physics and Astronomy

Project Summary:

Since the idea of quantum simulation, identifying and optimising suitable physical platforms has been a major research focus. Proposed systems include cold atoms, trapped ions, nuclear and electronic spins, superconducting circuits, electrons on liquid helium, Rydberg atoms, and photonic systems. Quantum simulators aim to address most difficult problems: Hubbard and spin models, quantum phase transitions, superconductivity, topological order, non-equilibrium dynamics, and questions in high-energy, nuclear physics, and cosmology. In collaboration with experimental groups in Sheffield, Paris, Lecce, Pittsburgh, Canberra, and Strasbourg, our research focuses on solid-state and hybrid quantum simulators—specifically polariton lattices, circuit-QED systems, and Rydberg arrays—engineered to realise correlated regimes and topologically protected states.

Circuit-QED lattices provide a versatile platform for implementing driven-dissipative spin and spin-boson Hamiltonians, enabling studies of correlated light–matter dynamics in designed geometries, including hyperbolic lattices that emulate curved-space effects. Microcavity polaritons—hybrid light–matter quasiparticles with tiny effective mass (~10⁻⁵ mₑ)—exhibit strong optical nonlinearities and quantum coherence at elevated temperatures. Their spin-dependent dispersion leads to effective spin–orbit coupling and supports topologically protected chiral edge modes. Rydberg atoms, with tunable long-range dipolar interactions, offer a complementary atomic platform for simulating correlated and topological quantum phases.

The project will develop and apply advanced theoretical and computational techniques to study correlated and topological effects in driven-dissipative and non-equilibrium regimes. Possible research directions include: (i) extending stochastic phase-space methods to incorporate strong correlations and entanglement; (ii) applying Keldysh field-theoretical, and renormalisation-group approaches; and (iii) developing tensor-network techniques for non-equilibrium steady states and dynamics. The aim is to advance the theoretical foundations of quantum simulation with polariton, circuit-QED, and Rydberg lattices, providing insight into non-equilibrium phase transitions, critical properties and topological states. Practically, the goal is to study entanglement formation, propagation, robustness to dissipation, and optimise quantum correlations in open polariton, superconducting-qubit, and Rydberg chains.