We study the driven-dissipative dynamics of a network of spin-1/2 systems coupled to one or more chiral 1D bosonic waveguides within the framework of a Markovian master equation. We determine how the interplay between a coherent drive and collective decay processes can lead to the formation of pure multipartite entangled steady states. The key ingredient for the emergence of these many-body dark states is an asymmetric coupling of the spins to left and right propagating guided modes. Such systems are motivated by experimental possibilities with internal states of atoms coupled to optical fibers, or motional states of trapped atoms coupled to a spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate. We discuss the characterization of the emerging multipartite entanglement in this system in terms of the Fisher information.

We consider the nonequilibrium dynamics of a driven dissipative spin chain with chiral coupling to a one-dimensional (1D) bosonic bath, and its atomic implementation with a two-species mixture of cold quantum gases. The reservoir is represented by a spin-orbit coupled 1D quasicondensate of atoms in a magnetized phase, while the spins are identified with motional states of a separate species of atoms in an optical lattice. The chirality of reservoir excitations allows the spins to couple differently to left- and right-moving modes, which in our atomic setup can be tuned from bidirectional to purely unidirectional. Remarkably, this leads to a pure steady state in which pairs of neighboring spins form dimers that decouple from the remainder of the chain. Our results also apply to current experiments with two-level emitters coupled to photonic waveguides.

We study the dynamics of chiral quantum networks consisting of nodes coupled by unidirectional or asymmetric bidirectional quantum channels. In contrast to familiar photonic networks where driven two-level atoms exchange photons via 1D photonic nanostructures, we propose and study a setup where interactions between the atoms are mediated by spin excitations (magnons) in 1D $XX$ spin chains representing spin waveguides. While Markovian quantum network theory eliminates quantum channels as structureless reservoirs in a Born-Markov approximation to obtain a master equation for the nodes, we are interested in non-Markovian dynamics. This arises from the nonlinear character of the dispersion with band-edge effects, and from finite spin propagation velocities leading to time delays in interactions. To account for the non-Markovian dynamics we treat the quantum degrees of freedom of the nodes and connecting channel as a composite spin system with the surrounding of the quantum network as a Markovian bath, allowing for an efficient solution with time-dependent density matrix renormalization-group techniques. We illustrate our approach showing non-Markovian effects in the driven-dissipative formation of quantum dimers, and we present examples for quantum information protocols involving quantum state transfer with engineered elements as basic building blocks of quantum spintronic circuits.

We propose to use the intrinsic two-level system (TLS) defect states found naturally in integrated optomechanical devices for exploring cavity QED-like phenomena with localized phonons. The Jaynes-Cummings-type interaction between TLS and mechanics can reach the strong coupling regime for existing nano-optomechanical systems, observable via clear signatures in the optomechanical output spectrum. These signatures persist even at finite temperature, and we derive an explicit expression for the temperature at which they vanish. Further, the ability to drive the defect with a microwave field allows for realization of phonon blockade, and the available controls are sufficient to deterministically prepare non-classical states of the mechanical resonator.

Qubit readout is an indispensable element of any quantum information processor. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a nonperturbative cross-Kerr couplingbetween a transmon and polariton mode which enables an improved quantum nondemolition (QND) readout for superconducting qubits. The new mechanism uses the same experimental techniques as the standard QND qubit readout in the dispersive approximation, but due to its nonperturbative nature, it maximizes the speed, the single-shot fidelity, and the QND properties of the readout. In addition, it minimizes the effect of unwanted decay channels such as the Purcell effect. We observe a single-shot readout fidelity of 97.4% for short 50-ns pulses and we quantify a QND-ness of 99% for long measurement pulses with repeated single-shot readouts.