We discuss the simulation of non-perturbative cavity-QED effects using systems of trapped ions. Specifically, we address the implementation of extended Dicke models with both collective dipole-field and direct dipole-dipole interactions, which represent a minimal set of models for describing light-matter interactions in the ultrastrong and deep-strong coupling regime. We show that this approach can be used in state-of-the-art trapped ion setups to investigate excitation spectra or the transition between sub- and superradiant ground states, which are currently not accessible in any other physical system. Our analysis also reveals the intrinsic difficulty of accessing this non-perturbative regime with larger numbers of dipoles, which makes the simulation of many-dipole cavity QED a particularly challenging test case for future quantum simulation platforms.
@article{arxiv.1911.05087,
title = {Quantum Simulation of Non-perturbative Cavity QED with Trapped Ions},
author = {Tuomas Jaako and Juan José Garcia-Ripoll and Peter Rabl},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1911.05087},
year = {2020}
}