Quantum dynamics of microwave photons in synthetic frequency dimension
Abstract
Synthetic frequency dimension offers a powerful approach to simulate lattice models and control photon dynamics. However, extending this concept into the quantum regime, particularly at the single-photon level, has remained challenging in photonic platforms. Here, we demonstrate quantum-state initialization and detection of single-photon evolutions within a synthetic frequency lattice by integrating a superconducting qubit with a 16-meter aluminum coaxial cable. A tunable superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID)-based modulator is employed to synthesize lattice couplings and artificial gauge fields. We observe single-photon quantum random walks and Bloch oscillations, as well as nonadiabatic, unidirectional frequency conversion under rapid temporal modulation of the lattice Hamiltonian, together with band-structure measurements. The lattice connectivity can be readily reconfigured to construct higher-dimensional lattices using multiple drive tones. Our results establish superconducting quantum circuits as a versatile platform for programmable Hamiltonians and extensible synthetic lattices with flexible single-photon control.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.13736,
title = {Quantum dynamics of microwave photons in synthetic frequency dimension},
author = {Zheshu Xie and Luojia Wang and Jiawei Qiu and Libo Zhang and Yuxuan Zhou and Ziyu Tao and Wenhui Huang and Yongqi Liang and Jiajian Zhang and Yuanzhen Chen and Song Liu and Jingjing Niu and Yang Liu and Youpeng Zhong and Luqi Yuan and Dapeng Yu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.13736},
year = {2026}
}