Broadband Lamb shift in an engineered quantum system

Published

March 11, 2019

Author(s)

Matti Silveri, S Masuda, Vasilii Sevriuk, K-Y Tan, Mate Jenei, Eric Hyyppa, Fabian Hassler, Matti Partanen, Jan Goetz, Russell Lake, Leif Gronberg, Mikko Mottonen

Abstract

The shift of the energy levels of a quantum system owing to broadband electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations-the Lamb shift-has been central for the development of quantum electrodynamics and for the understanding of atomic spectra. Identifying the origin of small energy shifts is still important for engineered quantum systems, in light of the extreme precision required for applications such as quantum computing. However, it is challenging to resolve the Lamb shift in its original broadband case in the absence of a tuneable environment. Consequently, previous observations. in non-atomic systems are limited to environments comprising narrowband modes. Here, we observe a broadband Lamb shift in high-quality superconducting resonators, a scenario also accessing static shifts inaccessible in Lamb's experiment. We measure a continuous change of several megahertz in the fundamental resonator frequency by externally tuning the coupling strength to the engineered broadband environment, which is based on hybrid normal-metal-insulator-superconductor tunnel junctions. Our results may lead to improved control of dissipation in high-quality engineered quantum systems and open new possibilities for studying synthetic open quantum matter using this hybrid experimental platform.

Citation

Nature Physics

Volume

15

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0449-0

Local Download

Keywords

quantum circuits, electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations, Lamb shift, atomic spectra, quantum electrodynamics, broadband, dissipation, synthetic, open quantum matter

Citation

Silveri, M. , Masuda, S. , Sevriuk, V. , Tan, K. , Jenei, M. , Hyyppa, E. , Hassler, F. , Partanen, M. , Goetz, J. , Lake, R. , Gronberg, L. and Mottonen, M. (2019), Broadband Lamb shift in an engineered quantum system, Nature Physics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0449-0, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=926620 (Accessed October 14, 2025)