Superradiance transition in a system with a single qubit and a single oscillator

Abstract

We consider the phase-transition-like behaviour in the Rabi model containing a single two-level system, or qubit, and a single harmonic oscillator. The system experiences a sudden transition from an uncorrelated state to an increasingly correlated one as the qubit-oscillator coupling strength is varied and increased past a critical point. This singular behaviour occurs in the limit where the oscillator's frequency is much lower than the qubit's frequency; away from this limit one obtains a finite-width transition region. By analyzing the energy-level structure, the value of the oscillator field and its squeezing and the qubit-oscillator correlation, we gain insight into the nature of the transition and the associated critical behaviour.