Experimental observation of non-Markovian quantum exceptional points

Abstract

One of the most remarkable features that distinguish open systems from closed ones is the presence of exceptional points (EPs), where two or more eigenvectors of a non-Hermitian operator coalesce, accompanying the convergence of the correcponding eigenvalues. So far, EPs have been demonstrated on a number of platforms, ranging from classical optical systems to fully quantum-mechanical spin-boson models. In these demonstrations, the reservoir that induced the non-Hermiticity was treated as a Markovian one, without considering its memory effect. We here present the first experimental demonstration of non-Markovian quantum EPs, engineered by coupling a Josephson-junction-based qubit to a leaky electromagnetic resonator, which acts as a non-Markovian reservoir. We map out the spectrum of the extended Liouvillian superoperator by observing the quantum state evolution of the qubit and the pseudomode, in which the memory of the reservoir is encoded. We identify a two-fold second-order EP and a third-order EP in the Liouvillian spectrum, which cannot be realized with a Markovian reservoir. Our results pave the way for experimental exploration of exotic phenomena associated with non-Markovian quantum EPs.