Single-Photon-Triggered Quantum Phase Transition

Abstract: We propose a hybrid quantum model combining cavity QED and optomechanics, which allows the occurrence of equilibrium superradiant quantum phase transition (QPT) triggered by a single photon. This single-photon-triggered QPT exists both in the cases of ignoring and including the so-called $A^2$ term, i.e., it is immune to the no-go theorem. It originally comes from the photon-dependent quantum criticality featured by the proposed hybrid quantum model. Moreover, a reversed superradiant QPT is induced by the competition between the introduced $A^2$ term and the optomechanical interaction. This work offers an approach to manipulate QPT with a single photon, which should inspire the exploration of single-photon quantum-criticality physics and the engineering of new single-photon quantum devices.