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Tunable anharmonicity in cavity optomechanics in the unresolved sideband regime

by Jonathan L. Wise, Clement Dutreix, Fabio Pistolesi

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Submission summary

Authors (as registered SciPost users): Jonathan Wise
Submission information
Preprint Link: scipost_202505_00050v1  (pdf)
Date accepted: June 12, 2025
Date submitted: May 22, 2025, 10:30 a.m.
Submitted by: Wise, Jonathan
Submitted to: SciPost Physics
Ontological classification
Academic field: Physics
Specialties:
  • Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics - Theory
  • Condensed Matter Physics - Theory
  • Quantum Physics
Approaches: Theoretical, Computational

Abstract

Introducing a controlled and strong anharmonicity in mechanical systems is a present challenge of nanomechanics. In cavity optomechanics a mechanical oscillator may be made anharmonic by ponderomotively coupling its motion to the light field of a laser-driven cavity. In the regime where the mechanical resonating frequency and the single-photon coupling constant are small compared to the decay rate of the cavity field, it turns out that the quantum electromagnetic fluctuations of the laser field drive the oscillator into a high-temperature thermal state. The motional state may however be highly non-Gaussian; we show that a precise tuning of system parameters may even lead to a purely quartic effective potential for the mechanical oscillator. We present a theory that predicts the measurable signatures left by the mechanical anharmonicity. In particular, we obtain analytically and numerically the mechanical displacement spectrum, and explore the imprints of the mechanical anharmonicity on the cavity light field.

Author indications on fulfilling journal expectations

  • Provide a novel and synergetic link between different research areas.
  • Open a new pathway in an existing or a new research direction, with clear potential for multi-pronged follow-up work
  • Detail a groundbreaking theoretical/experimental/computational discovery
  • Present a breakthrough on a previously-identified and long-standing research stumbling block

Published as SciPost Phys. 19, 016 (2025)


Reports on this Submission

Report #1 by Anonymous (Referee 2) on 2025-5-30 (Invited Report)

Strengths

An excellent and in-depth analysis of the unresolved sideband regime in an optomechanical system with a classical mechanical oscillator.

Report

The authors have answered my questions more satisfactorily and made the manuscript more comprehensible for the readers. I recommend it for publication.

Recommendation

Publish (surpasses expectations and criteria for this Journal; among top 10%)

  • validity: top
  • significance: high
  • originality: good
  • clarity: high
  • formatting: excellent
  • grammar: excellent

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