We have studied the two-qubit quantum Rabi model in the asymmetric case and its generalizations with dipole and Heisenberg-type qubit–qubit interactions. The solutions are obtained analytically with eigenstates given in terms of the extended coherent states or photon number states. For identical qubit–photon couplings, a novel type of quasi-exact solution which exists for all coupling values with constant eigenenergy is found, leading to level crossings within the same parity subspace even for non-identical qubits. In contrast to the quasi-exact eigenstates of the single-qubit model, these exceptional eigenstates are formed by just a few Fock states (photon number bounded from above at one or three), and the condition for them depends only on a fine-tuning of the qubit level splittings with respect to the photon energy, but not on the coupling to the photon field if the qubit–qubit interaction is not taken into consideration. This makes them excellent candidates for direct experimental observation within circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) and application in single photon experiments. Besides, exceptional solutions with finite photon numbers N are also found.

The simplified two-qubit Rabi model is proposed and its analytical solution is presented. There are no level crossings in the spectral graph of the model, which indicates that it is not integrable. The criterion of integrability for the Rabi model proposed by Braak (2011 Phys. Rev. Lett. 107 100401) is also used for the simplified two-qubit Rabi model and the same conclusion, consistent with what the spectral graph shows, can be drawn, which indicates that the criterion remains valid when applied to the two-qubit case. The simplified two-qubit Rabi model is another example of a non-integrable but exactly solvable system except for the generalized Rabi model.

No abstract

An algebraic method to solve the time-dependent inverted harmonic oscillator (TDIHO) is proposed, and the analytical expressions of the wavefunctions obtained by this method are suitable for discussion of the quantum tunneling effect. With the Gaussian wave packet as the initial state, the general expressions of transmission and reflection probabilities, and dwell time of TDIHO are obtained. The quantum tunneling effect is further illustrated through two specific cases.

Abstract. There are well-known dark states in the even-qubit Dicke models, which are the products of the two-qubit singlets and a Fock state, where the qubits are decoupled from the photon field. These spin singlets can be used to store quantum correlations since they preserve entanglement even under dissipation, driving and dipole-dipole interactions. One of the features for these dark states is that their eigenenergies are independent of the qubitphoton coupling strength. We have obtained a novel kind of dark-like states for the multi-qubit and multi-photon Rabi models, whose eigenenergies are also constant in the whole coupling regime. Unlike the dark states, the qubits and photon field are coupled in the dark-like states. Furthermore, the photon numbers are bounded from above commonly at 1, which is different from that for the one-qubit case. The existence conditions of the dark-like states are simpler than exact isolated solutions, and may be fine tuned in experiments. While the single-qubit and multi-photon Rabi model is well-defined only if the photon number M ≤ 2 and the coupling strength is below a certain critical value, the dark-like eigenstates for multi-qubit and multiphoton Rabi model still exist, regardless of these constraints. In view of these properties of the dark-like states, they may find similar applications like "dark states" in quantum information.