Coherent exciton transport and trapping on long-range interacting cycles

Continuous-Time Quantum Walk in Glued Trees: Localized State-Mediated Almost Perfect Quantum-State Transfer

In this work, the dynamics of a quantum walker on glued trees is revisited to understand the influence of the architecture of the graph on the efficiency of the transfer between the two roots. Instead of considering regular binary trees, we focus our attention on leafier structures where each parent node could give rise to a larger number of children. Through extensive numerical simulations, we uncover a significant dependence of the transfer on the underlying graph architecture, particularly influenced by the branching rate (M) relative to the root degree (N). Our study reveals that the behavior of the walker is isomorphic to that of a particle moving on a finite-size chain. This chain exhibits defects that originate in the specific nature of both the roots and the leaves. Therefore, the energy spectrum of the chain showcases rich features, which lead to diverse regimes for the quantum-state transfer. Notably, the formation of quasi-degenerate localized states due to significant disparities between M and N triggers a localization process on the roots. Through analytical development, we demonstrate that these states play a crucial role in facilitating almost perfect quantum beats between the roots, thereby enhancing the transfer efficiency. Our findings offer valuable insights into the mechanisms governing quantum-state transfer on trees, with potential applications for the transfer of quantum information.

Quantum self-trapping on a star graph

The attractive Bose-Hubbard model is applied for describing the two-exciton dynamics in a nonlinear quantum star graph. When the excitons are created on the core of the star, it is shown that the interplay between the complex architecture of the network and the nonlinearity favors the occurrence of a real quantum self-trapping. Quite weak in the small nonlinearity limit, this self-localization is enhanced as the nonlinearity increases. This feature originates in the restructuring of the two-exciton eigenstates whose localized nature intensifies with the nonlinearity. Nevertheless, the quantum self-trapping is never complete since it is impossible to localize the entire exciton density, even in the strong nonlinearity limit.

Two-exciton bound state quantum self-trapping in an extended star graph

The attractive Bose-Hubbard model is applied for describing the quantum self-trapping in an extended star graph. In the strong coupling limit and when two excitons are created on the core of the star, the dynamics is dominated by pair states whose properties is governed by the branch number $N$. When $N=2$, the star reduces to a linear chain so that the energy does not self-localize. Conversely, when $N\geq3$, a restructuring of the eigenstates arises and a low-energy state occurs describing a pair localized on the core of the star. Preferentially excited, this localized state gives rise to a quantum self-trapping of the energy, a process that intensifies as $N$ increases.

Continuous-time quantum walk on an extended star graph: Disorder-enhanced trapping process

Using a tight binding model, we investigate the dynamics of an exciton on a disordered extended star graph whose central site acts as an energy trap. When compared with what happens in an ordered network, our results reveal that the disorder drastically improves the excitonic absorption that becomes complete. Moreover, we show the occurrence of an optimal disorder for which the absorption time is strongly minimized, a surprising effect that originates in a disorder-induced restructuring process of the exciton eigenstates. Finally, we also show the existence of an optimal value of the absorption rate that reduces even more the absorption time. The resulting superoptimized trapping process is interpreted as a positive interplay between both the disorder and the so-called superradiance transition.

Continuous-time quantum walk on an extended star graph: Trapping and superradiance transition

A tight-binding model is introduced for describing the dynamics of an exciton on an extended star graph whose central node is occupied by a trap. On this graph, the exciton dynamics is governed by two kinds of eigenstates: many eigenstates are associated with degenerate real eigenvalues insensitive to the trap, whereas three decaying eigenstates characterized by complex energies contribute to the trapping process. It is shown that the excitonic population absorbed by the trap depends on the size of the graph, only. By contrast, both the size parameters and the absorption rate control the dynamics of the trapping. When these parameters are judiciously chosen, the efficiency of the transfer is optimized resulting in the minimization of the absorption time. Analysis of the eigenstates reveals that such a feature arises around the superradiance transition. Moreover, depending on the size of the network, two situations are highlighted where the transport efficiency is either superoptimized or suboptimized.