Constructing Large and Structured Decoherence-Free Subspaces in Hybrid Quantum Systems

Abstract

We develop a framework to construct large decoherence-free subspaces with a non-trivial structure. The construction is based on hybrid quantum systems in which quantum matter is coupled to a dissipative bosonic mode. Dissipation imposes a global constraint on the matter by selecting the matter null states in the long-time limit. The decoherence-free subspaces spanned by matter null states can exhibit exotic quantum properties and emergent symmetries that do not characterize the full Liouvillian dynamics. We show how to construct many-body operators with physically interesting null states by employing representation theory of Lie algebras. This approach allows us to choose models based on their underlying algebraic structure. We consider explicitly the example of coupling a lossy optical cavity to the directed tunneling operator of quantum particles in one-dimension. In this case, the symmetries of the decoherence-free subspace originate in an $\mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{C})$ algebra, leading to an exponentially large number of steady states. We characterize the null states for both fermionic and bosonic particles, employing analytical and numerical methods. The states exhibit several properties that underline their complex quantum nature: long-range kinetic correlations and volume-law entanglement. The nonreciprocal nature of the directed tunneling dynamics leads to the emergence in the many-body regime of a symmetry-constrained Liouvillian skin effect. The open light-matter system exhibits a strong symmetry stemming from spinless $η$-pairing algebras. We show how the non-trivial properties of the long-times states emerge in the dissipative dynamics from generic initial states, by performing time-dependent matrix product state simulations. Our framework opens avenues for dissipatively engineering complex quantum correlations and harnessing nonreciprocity in a controlled manner.