Giuliano Chiriacò - Università di Catania

Dynamics of a first and second-order superradiant quantum phase transition with three-level atoms

We study a generalized model describing N three-level coupled to a single-mode cavity. In equilibrium, this system exhibits a normal-to-super-radiant transition that can be either first- or second-order depending on the coupling parameters. We study this model out of equilibrium and investigate its quantum dynamics. We account for dissipation through a Markovian master equation, and find that the superradiant phase is robust against dissipation. We also include driving of the coupling parameters and study the behavior of the system in a Kibble-Zurek like setting. We investigate the dependence of the system response on the initial conditions and on the time dependence of the parameters, finding several phenomena such as persistent oscillations, metastability and high sensitivity of the system to the driving.