Analytical solvability of the two-axis countertwisting spin squeezing Hamiltonian

Abstract

There is currently much interest in the two-axis countertwisting spin squeezing Hamiltonian suggested originally by Kitagawa and Ueda, since it is useful for interferometry and metrology. No analytical solution valid for arbitrary spin values seems to be available. In this article we systematically consider the issue of the analytical solvability of this Hamiltonian for various specific spin values. We show that the spin squeezing dynamics can be considered to be analytically solved for angular momentum values upto $21/2$, i.e. for $21$ spin half particles. We also identify the properties of the system responsible for yielding analytic solutions for much higher spin values than based on naive expectations. Our work is relevant for analytic characterization of squeezing experiments with low spin values, and semi-analytic modeling of higher values of spins.