Strong coupling, energy splitting, and level crossings: A classical perspective

Lukas Novotny

Citation: American Journal of Physics 78, 1199 (2010); doi: 10.1119/1.3471177

View online: https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3471177
View Table of Contents: http://aapt.scitation.org/toc/ajp/78/11
Published by the American Association of Physics Teachers

Articles you may be interested in

Classical analog of electromagnetically induced transparency
American Journal of Physics 70, 37 (2002); 10.1119/1.1412644

Classical analogy to quantum mechanical level repulsion

American Journal of Physics 62, 706 (1994); 10.1119/1.17500

The classical Bloch equations

American Journal of Physics 82, 947 (2014); 10.1119/1.4878621

Simple mechanical analogs of rapid adiabatic passage in atomic physics

American Journal of Physics 77, 1183 (2009); 10.1119/1.3231688

Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics

Physics Today 42, 24 (1989); 10.1063/1.881201

Adiabatic and nonadiabatic processes in classical and quantum mechanics

American Journal of Physics 56, 1114 (1988); 10.1119/1.15734
Strong coupling, energy splitting, and level crossings: A classical
perspective
Lukas Novotnya兲
Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627
共Received 20 January 2010; accepted 6 July 2010兲
Strongly interacting quantum systems are at the heart of many physical processes, ranging from
photosynthesis to quantum information. We demonstrate that many characteristic features of
strongly coupled systems can be derived classically for a simple coupled harmonic oscillator. This
model system is used to derive frequency splittings and to analyze adiabatic and diabatic transitions
between the coupled states. A classical analog of the Landau–Zener formula is derived. The classical
analysis is intuitive and well suited for introducing students to the basic concepts of strongly
interacting systems. © 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers.
关DOI: 10.1119/1.3471177兴

I. INTRODUCTION J 兴 = 0. The resulting characteristic

tions exist only if det关M
The interaction between quantum systems is commonly equation yields

= 关␻A2 + ␻B2 ⫾ 冑共␻A2 − ␻B2 兲2 + 4⌫2␻A␻B兴,

studied in the weak coupling and the strong coupling limits. 1
Weak coupling can be treated within perturbation theory, and ␻⫾
2
共2兲
2
various classical analogs have been developed.1–3 Examples
of the effects of weak coupling are changes in atomic decay where ␻A = 冑共kA + ␬兲 / mA, ␻B = 冑共kB + ␬兲 / mB, and
rates4 共Purcell effect兲 and Förster energy transfer5 between a
donor and acceptor atom or molecule. Förster energy transfer 冑␬/mA冑␬/mB
⌫= 共3兲
assumes that the transfer rate from donor to acceptor is 冑␻ A ␻ B .
smaller than the relaxation rate of the acceptor. This assump-
tion ensures that once the energy is transferred to the accep- In analogy to the dressed atom picture,10 the eigenfrequen-
tor, there is little chance of a back transfer to the donor. Once cies ␻⫾ can be associated with dressed states, that is, the
the interaction energy becomes sufficiently large, and a back oscillator frequencies of systems A and B in the presence of
transfer to the donor becomes possible, the system is in the mutual coupling.
strong coupling regime. In this limit, it is no longer possible To illustrate the solutions given by Eq. 共2兲 we set kA = ko,
to distinguish between donor and acceptor. Instead, the exci- kB = ko + ⌬k, and mA = mB = mo. Figure 2共a兲 shows the frequen-
tation becomes delocalized, and we must view the pair as cies of the two oscillators in the absence of coupling 共␬
one system. A characteristic feature of the strong coupling = 0兲. As ⌬k is increased from −ko to ko, the frequency of
regime is energy level splitting, a property that can be well oscillator B increases from zero to 冑2␻o, while the frequency
understood from a classical perspective. of oscillator A stays constant. The two curves intersect at
Coupled harmonic oscillators are an intuitive and popular ⌬k = 0. Once coupling is introduced, the two curves no
model for many phenomena, including electromagnetically longer intersect. Instead, as shown in Fig. 2共b兲, there is a
induced transparency,6 level repulsion,7 nonadiabatic characteristic anticrossing with a frequency splitting of
processes,8 and rapid adiabatic passage.9 In this article, we
use a coupled oscillator model as a canonical example for 关␻+ − ␻−兴 = ⌫. 共4兲
strong coupling and derive frequency splittings and condi- Anticrossing is a characteristic fingerprint of strong cou-
tions for adiabatic and diabatic transitions. pling. Because ⌫ ⬀ ␬, the splitting increases with coupling
strength.
Note that we have ignored damping in the analysis of the
II. COUPLED OSCILLATORS coupled oscillators. Damping can be readily introduced by
adding the frictional terms ␥AẋA and ␥BẋB to Eqs. 共1兲. The
In the absence of coupling 共␬ = 0兲, the two oscillators introduction of damping gives rise to complex frequency ei-
shown in Fig. 1 have eigenfrequencies ␻A0 = 冑kA / mA and ␻B0
= 冑kB / mB, respectively. In the presence of coupling 共␬ ⫽ 0兲,
the equations of motion become System A System B

mAẍA + kAxA + ␬共xA − xB兲 = 0 共1a兲

mA mB
mBẍB + kBxB − ␬共xA − xB兲 = 0. 共1b兲
kA κ kB
We seek solutions of the form xi共t兲 = x0i exp关−i␻⫾t兴, where
␻⫾ are the new eigenfrequencies. We insert this ansatz into xA(t) xB(t)
Eqs. 共1兲 and obtain two coupled linear equations for xA0 and
J 关x0 , x0 兴T = 0. Fig. 1. Strong coupling regime illustrated by mechanical oscillators. The
xB0 , which can be written in matrix form as M A B coupling ␬ of the two oscillators 共mass mi and spring constant ki兲 leads to a
Nontrivial solutions for this homogeneous system of equa- shift of the eigenfrequencies and a characteristic frequency splitting.

1199 Am. J. Phys. 78 共11兲, November 2010 http://aapt.org/ajp © 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers 1199
 1.6 III. ADIABATIC AND DIABATIC TRANSITIONS
a b
1.4

1.2
We now investigate what happens if one of the oscillator
ωoA / ωo ω+ / ωo parameters changes as a function of time. For example, to
1 determine the curves shown in Fig. 2, we need to tune ⌬k
ω / ωo

Γ / ωo from an initial value of −ko to a final value ko. Thus, ⌬k

0.8
becomes a function of time, a fact that we have ignored in
0.6
the analysis in Sec. II. We assumed that ⌬k is tuned so
0.4
ωoB / ωo ω- / ωo slowly that for every measurement window ⌬t the system
0.2 parameters can be regarded as constant. Thus, if we initially
0
have ⌬k = −ko, the coupled system oscillates at frequency ␻−
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 共bottom curve in Fig. 2共b兲兲, and the system will follow the
Δk / ko Δk / ko same curve as we slowly increase ⌬k. We can fine tune the
oscillation frequency by adjusting ⌬k. The same applies if
Fig. 2. 共a兲 Eigenfrequencies of two uncoupled oscillators 共␬ = 0兲 with equal
mass and spring constants ko and ko + ⌬k. 共b兲 Frequency anticrossing due to
we initially start with frequency ␻+ 关top curve in Fig. 2共b兲兴.
coupling of strength ␬ = 0.08ko. The frequency splitting 关␻+ − ␻−兴 scales lin- In both cases the anticrossing region is passed by staying on
early with the coupling strength ␬. the same branch. This scenario is referred to as an adiabatic
transition and is illustrated in Fig. 3共a兲.
In the adiabatic limit, it is possible to transfer the energy
from one oscillator to the other by slowly tuning the coupled
genvalues, the imaginary part of which represents the line- system through resonance. To see this effect, we introduce
widths. The latter gives rise to a “smearing out” of the curves normal coordinates 共x+ , x−兲 defined by
shown in Fig. 2, and for very strong damping, it is no longer
xA共t兲 = x+共t兲sin ␤ + x−共t兲cos ␤ , 共6a兲
possible to discern the frequency splitting 关␻+ − ␻−兴. There-
fore, to observe strong coupling, the frequency splitting
xB共t兲 = x+共t兲cos ␤ − x−共t兲sin ␤ , 共6b兲
needs to be larger than the sum of the linewidths,
where ␤ is determined by tan ␤ = 共␻B2 − ␻+2兲 / 共␬ / mB兲 = −共␻A2
⌫ − ␻−2兲 / 共␬ / mB兲. We substitute these expressions for xA and xB
⬎ 1. 共5兲 into Eqs. 共1兲 and obtain
␥A/mA + ␥B/mB
ẍ+共t兲 + ␻+2x+共t兲 = 0, 共7a兲
In other words, the dissipation in each system needs to be
smaller than the coupling strength. ẍ−共t兲 + ␻−2x−共t兲 = 0, 共7b兲
Coupled mechanical oscillators are a generic model sys-
tem for many physical systems, including atoms in external which represent two independent harmonic oscillators oscil-
fields,11 coupled quantum dots,12 and cavity lating at the eigenfrequencies ␻⫾ defined by Eq. 共2兲. In other
13 words, there are two sets of coordinates, x+ and x−, which
optomechanics. Although our analysis is purely classical, a
quantum mechanical analysis yields the same result for the oscillate independently from each other.
frequency splitting shown in Eq. 共2兲.14 The coupling between Now, imagine that ⌬k is slowly tuned in time from the
energy states gives rise to avoided level crossings. The initial value ⌬k = −ko through resonance to a value of ⌬k
coupled oscillator picture can be readily extended by exter- = ko. According to Fig. 2, at the initial time we have 共␻A
nal forces FA共t兲 and FB共t兲 acting on the masses mA and mB to − ␻−兲 Ⰷ ⌫ and therefore ␤ ⬃ −␲ / 2. If we use this value in
account for externally driven systems, as in the case of elec- Eqs. 共6兲 and assume that initially only oscillator A is active,
tromagnetically induced transparency.6 we find that all the energy is associated with normal mode

1.6
a b
1.4
Padiab
1.2
ω / ωo

1
Pdiab
0.8

0.6

0.4
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
Δk / ko Δk / ko

Fig. 3. Adiabatic and diabatic transitions caused by a time-varying ⌬k. 共a兲 In the adiabatic case, the dynamics of the system is not affected by the time
dependence of ⌬k, and the system evolves along the eigenmodes ␻⫾. 共b兲 In the diabatic case, the time dependence of ⌬k gives rise to “level crossing,” a
transition from one eigenmode to the other.

1200 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 78, No. 11, November 2010 Lukas Novotny 1200
x+, that is, x− = 0. Once ⌬k is tuned past resonance to ko, we temporal behavior of cA but rather in the value that cA
have 共␻A − ␻−兲 Ⰶ ⌫ and ␤ ⬇ 0. According to Eqs. 共6兲, the en- assumes after the anticrossing regime has long passed. By
ergy of mode x+ now coincides with oscillator B, and hence using contour integration, we find that the solution for
the energy is transferred from oscillator A to oscillator B as cA共t → ⬁兲 is15

冋 册
the system is slowly tuned through resonance. If ⌬k changes
in time, then kB, ␻B, and the eigenfrequencies ␻⫾ become ␲ 2
cA共⬁兲 = exp − ⌫ /␣ . 共15兲
time-dependent. If we assume a slowly varying ␻⫾共t兲 in Eqs. 4
共7兲, we find

再 冋冕 册冎
Because the energy of oscillator A is EA ⬀ 兩cA兩2, the probabil-
t
ity for level crossing is
x⫾共t兲 = x⫾共ti兲Re exp i ␻⫾共t⬘兲dt⬘ 共8兲
冋 册
,
ti ␲ 2
Pdiab = exp − ⌫ /␣ , 共16兲
where we used the ansatz x⫾共t兲 = x⫾共ti兲exp关if共t兲兴 and 2
关d2 f / dt2兴 Ⰶ 关df / dt兴2. Equation 共8兲 describes the adiabatic which is also referred to as a diabatic transition, a transition
evolution of the normal modes. involving loss or gain.
We now analyze what happens if we change ⌬k more Equation 共16兲 is the classical analog of the Landau–Zener
rapidly. We use the ansatz formula in quantum mechanics.16,17 As illustrated in
xA共t兲 = xocA共t兲exp关i␻At兴, xB共t兲 = xocB共t兲exp关i␻At兴 共9兲 Fig. 3共b兲, Eq. 共16兲 defines the probability that the energy of
oscillator A remains the same after transitioning through the
and assume that initially only oscillator A is active, that is, anticrossing region. Pdiab is the probability for passing
cB共−⬁兲 = 0. The amplitude xo is a normalization constant that through the anticrossing region by switching branches, that
ensures that 兩cA兩2 + 兩cB兩2 = 1. We substitute these expressions is, for jumping from one eigenmode to the other 关see
for xA and xB into Eqs. 共1兲 and obtain the following coupled Fig. 3共b兲兴. Consequently, the probability of an adiabatic tran-
differential equations for cA and cB: sition is Padiab = 1 − Pdiab.
The probability of a diabatic transition depends on the
c̈A + 2i␻AċA = 共␬/mA兲cB , 共10a兲 frequency splitting ⌫ = 关␻+ − ␻−兴 and the time ␶ ⬃ ⌫ / ␣ that it
takes to transition through the anticrossing region. A diabatic
c̈B + 2i␻AċB + 关␻B2 共t兲 − ␻A2 兴cB = 共␬/mB兲cA , 共10b兲 transition is likely for ⌫␶ Ⰶ 1, which corresponds to a rapid
where we emphasized the time dependence of ␻B. For weak transition through the anticrossing region. In contrast, for a
coupling between the two oscillators, the amplitudes cA共t兲 slow transition 共⌫␶ Ⰷ 1兲, an adiabatic transition is more prob-
and cB共t兲 in Eq. 共9兲 vary much slower in time than the oscil- able. Note that the product ⌫␶ has analogies with the time-
energy uncertainty principle. For times ␶ Ⰶ 1 / ⌫, the energy
latory term exp关i␻At兴. Therefore, c̈A Ⰶ i␻AċA and c̈B Ⰶ i␻AċB,
uncertainty becomes larger than the level splitting thereby
which allows us to drop the second-order derivatives in Eqs. “closing up” the anticrossing region and making diabatic
共10兲 to obtain transitions possible.
2i␻AċA = 共␬/mA兲cB , 共11a兲 In our example, we can control which branch 共eigenmode兲
we end up with by setting the speed at which ⌬k共t兲 changes.
2i␻AċB + 关␻B2 共t兲 − ␻A2 兴cB = 共␬/mB兲cA . 共11b兲 Figure 4共b兲 shows computed results for 兩cA共t兲兩2 for two time
dependences of ⌬k. In both cases, ⌬k changes from −ko to
From Eq. 共11a兲, we find cB and ċB 共by taking a derivative兲 ko, but the speed of this change is different. Figure 4共a兲
and substitute the results into Eq. 共11b兲 to find, after some shows the corresponding time dependence of the frequency
algebra, shifts. For the computations of cA, we assumed that only

c̈A − iċA 冋 2␻A

册
␻B2 共t兲 − ␻A2
+ cA
␬2/关mAmB兴
4␻A2
= 0. 共12兲
oscillator A is active initially, that is, cA共−⬁兲 = 1 and
cB共−⬁兲 = 0. As time evolves, we observe small oscillations in
cA and then an abrupt change in the transition region. This
The time dependence of ␻B makes Eq. 共12兲 nonlinear. Dur- change is followed by a slowly damped oscillation. The two
ing the time interval of interest, close to the anticrossing limiting values for the diabatic probability Pdiab are indicated
region, ␻B共t兲 ⬇ ␻A, and hence 关␻B共t兲2 − ␻A2 兴 / 关2␻A兴 ⬇ 关␻B共t兲 in Fig. 4共b兲. Although one of the curves represents a nearly
− ␻A兴. For the same reason, we can set ⌫2 ⬇ ␬2 / 关mAmB␻A2 兴 adiabatic transition 共Pdiab ⬃ 0兲, the other represents a nearly
关see Eq. 共3兲兴. Finally, we assume that near the anticrossing diabatic transition 共Pdiab ⬃ 1兲. Situations in between can be
region, the frequency difference of oscillators A and B selected by adjusting the speed at which ⌬k共t兲 changes.
changes linearly in time, that is, Let us now verify the transition probabilities using the
Landau–Zener formula. A linear approximation to the curves
关␻B共t兲 − ␻A兴 = ␣t. 共13兲 in Fig. 4共a兲 yields the slopes ␣1 = 0.003␻A2 and ␣2 = 0.075␻A2 .
According to Eq. 共13兲, the anticrossing region is passed at The level splitting of the two oscillators is ⌫ = 共␬ / mo兲 / ␻A,
time t ⬇ 0, and the frequency difference is negative for t with ␻A2 = 共ko + ␬兲 / mo. If we use ␬ = 0.08ko and substitute the
⬍ 0 and positive for t ⬎ 0 共see Fig. 2兲. With these approxi- expressions for ⌫ and ␣ into Eq. 共16兲, we find Pdiab共␣1兲
mations, Eq. 共12兲 becomes = 0.06 and Pdiab共␣2兲 = 0.89, in agreement with the computed
results in Fig. 4共b兲.
c̈A − iċA␣t + cA⌫2/4 = 0. 共14兲
The accuracy of the classical Landau–Zener formula can
Despite the approximations, there is no analytical solution of be tested numerically for different time dependences of ⌬k共t兲
Eq. 共14兲 for cA共t兲. However, we are not interested in the and for different initial conditions. Students can combine the

1201 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 78, No. 11, November 2010 Lukas Novotny 1201
 0.8 a ACKNOWLEDGMENT
[ωA - ωB(t)] / ωA 0.6
α2 The author is grateful for the financial support by the U.S.
0.4
Department of Energy 共Grant No. DE-FG02-01ER15204兲.
0.2
α1
0 a兲
Electronic mail: novotny@optics.rochester.edu
-0.2 1
R. R. Chance, A. Prock, and R. Silbey, in Molecular Fluorescence and
-0.4 Energy Transfer near Interfaces, Advances in Chemical Physics, Vol. 37,
edited by I. Prigogine and S. A. Rice 共Wiley, New York, 1978兲, pp. 1–65.
2
1.2 L. Novotny and B. Hecht, Principles of Nano-Optics 共Cambridge U. P.,
b Cambridge, 2006兲.
1.0 3
0.89 Y. Xu, R. K. Lee, and A. Yariv, “Quantum analysis and the classical
0.8 analysis of spontaneous emission in a microcavity,” Phys. Rev. A 61,
033807-1–13 共2000兲.
Pdiab (t)

0.6 4
E. M. Purcell, “Spontaneous emission probabilities at radio frequencies,”
Phys. Rev. 69, 681–681 共1946兲.
0.4 5
Th. Förster, “Energiewanderung und Fluoreszenz,” Naturwiss. 33, 166–
0.2 175 共1946兲; Th. Förster, “Zwischenmolekulare Energiewanderung und
0.06
Fluoreszenz,” Ann. Phys. 2, 55–75 共1948兲 An English translation of
0 Förster’s original work is provided by R. S. Knox, “Intermolecular en-
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
ergy migration and fluorescence,” in Biological Physics, edited by E.
ωA t Mielczarek, R. S. Knox, and E. Greenbaum 共American Institute of Phys-
ics, New York, 1993兲, pp. 148–160.
Fig. 4. Diabatic transition probability computed for two different time de- 6
C. L. Garrido Alzar, M. A. G. Martinez, and P. Nussenzveig, “Classical
pendencies of ⌬k共t兲. 共a兲 Time dependence of the frequency shift. The linear
analog of electromagnetically induced transparency,” Am. J. Phys. 70,
approximation Eq. 共13兲 yields ␣1 = 0.003␻2A and ␣2 = 0.075␻2A. 共b兲 The tran-
37–41 共2002兲.
sition probability Pdiab共t兲 = cA共t兲cⴱA共t兲 for the two functions in 共a兲. For a fre- 7
W. Frank and P. von Brentano, “Classical analogy to quantum-mechanical
quency difference that changes slowly 共curve labeled ␣1兲, we obtain a nearly
level repulsion,” Am. J. Phys. 62, 706–709 共1994兲.
adiabatic transition with the limiting value of Pdiab = 0.06, whereas a rapidly 8
H. J. Maris and Q. Xiong, “Adiabatic and nondiabatic processes in clas-
changing frequency difference 共curve labeled ␣2兲 results in a nearly diabatic
sical and quantum mechanics,” Am. J. Phys. 56, 1114–1117 共1988兲.
transition with the limiting value of Pdiab = 0.89. kA = ko, kB = ko + ⌬k, mA 9
B. W. Shore, M. V. Gromovyy, L. P. Yatsenko, and V. I. Romanenko,
= mB = mo, and ␬ = 0.08ko.
“Simple mechanical analogs of rapid adiabatic passage in atomic phys-
ics,” Am. J. Phys. 77, 1183–1194 共2009兲.
10
C. Cohen-Tannoudji, J. Dupont-Roc, and G. Grynberg, Atom-Photon In-
two coupled equations in Eq. 共10兲 to obtain two decoupled teractions 共Wiley-VCH Verlag, Weinheim, 2004兲, Chap. VI.
fourth-order differential equations and implement a finite dif- 11
M. L. Zimmerman, M. G. Littman, M. M. Kash, and D. Kleppner, “Stark
ference method to follow the evolution of cA共t兲 and cB共t兲 and structure of the Rydberg states of alkali-metal atoms,” Phys. Rev. A 20,
obtain curves similar to those shown in Fig. 4共b兲. To resolve 2251–2275 共1979兲.
12
all the temporal details, it is important to keep the differential M. Bayer, P. Hawrylak, K. Hinzer, S. Fafard, M. Korkusinski, Z. R.
Wasilewski, O. Stern, and A. Forchel, “Coupling and entangling of quan-
time step ⌬t sufficiently small. The asymptotic values after tum dot states in quantum dot molecules,” Science 291, 451–453 共2001兲.
transitioning through the anticrossing region can then be 13
T. J. Kippenberg and K. J. Vahala, “Cavity optomechanics: Back-action at
compared with the Landau–Zener formula.18 the mesoscale,” Science 321, 1172–1176 共2008兲.
The Landau–Zener formula is an important result because 14
A. R. Bosco de Magalhães, C. H. d’Avila Fonseca, and M. C. Nemes,
it finds application in a wide range of problems. It allows us “Classical and quantum coupled oscillators: Symplectic structure,” Phys.
to readily calculate the transitions between eigenmodes of Scr. 74, 472–480 共2006兲.
15
two coupled systems. The result in Eq. 共16兲 can be extended C. Wittig, “The Landau–Zener formula,” J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 8428–
8430 共2005兲.
to a quantum mechanical system with eigenstates 兩1典 and 兩2典 16
L. Landau, “Zur Theorie der Energieübertragung bei Stössen II,” Phys. Z.
by using the substitutions ប⌫ / 2 → 兩具1兩Ĥint兩2典兩 and ប␣ Sowjetunion 2, 46–51 共1932兲.
17
C. Zener, “Non-adiabatic crossing of energy levels,” Proc. R. Soc. Lon-
→ d关E1共t兲 − E2共t兲兴 / dt, where Ĥint is the interaction Hamil- don, Ser. A 137, 696–702 共1932兲.
tonian and Ei the energy eigenvalues. These substitutions 18
S. Geltman and N. D. Aragon, “Model study of the Landau–Zener ap-
yield the original quantum Landau–Zener formula. proximation,” Am. J. Phys. 73, 1050–1054 共2005兲.

1202 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 78, No. 11, November 2010 Lukas Novotny 1202