Liouvillian design of metastable quantum dynamics

by Dr Kilian Seibold (Uni Konstanz)

Wednesday 15 Jul 2026, 10:00 → 11:00 Europe/Zurich

OSGA/EG6a

Driven nonlinear quantum systems can exhibit metastability, switching, dissipative phase transitions, and rich nonequilibrium dynamical phases. However, their faithful theoretical description remains challenging: competing timescales, quantum fluctuations, and dissipation often limit the validity of conventional approximations. Recent experiments, especially in superconducting circuits, increasingly reach regimes where these limitations become directly observable.

In this talk, I will present a framework for Liouvillian design in driven nonlinear resonators, combining reduced modeling with phase-space and spectral tools to characterize metastability, topology, and control. First, I will show how to construct effective Liouvillians adapted to the drive and intrinsic nonlinearity. Representation-adapted Floquet theory minimizes residual micromotion, while generalized master-equation methods reveal the dynamical dressing of dissipation by the drive and nonlinear response. These refinements are essential for quantitatively predicting dissipative phase transitions, multiphoton resonances, metastable lifetimes, and Kerr-cat bit-flip rates.

I will then show how Liouvillian mode tomography reveals a quantum topology of metastable dynamics beyond Liouvillian gaps or topological indices. By resolving slow modes in phase space, it exposes attractor structure, connectivity, switching pathways, and chirality. At the same time, the left-right structure of Liouvillian modes links these dynamical features to preparation and readout protocols, providing an operational route to initialize, detect, and control metastable quantum states.

Based on

- K. Seibold, G. Villa, J. del Pino, and O. Zilberberg, PRR. 8, 023093 (2026)

- C. Nowoczyn, L. Mathey, and K. Seibold, arXiv:2605.24122 (2026)

- J. Wagner, J. Maki, O. Zilberberg, and K. Seibold, arXiv:2605.08021 (2026)

- K. Seibold, O. Ameye, and O. Zilberberg, PRL. 134, 060401 (2025)