Chaos in coupled Kerr-nonlinear parametric oscillators

Abstract: A Kerr-nonlinear parametric oscillator (KPO) can generate a quantum superposition of two oscillating states, known as a Schr\"{o}dinger cat state, via quantum adiabatic evolution, and can be used as a qubit for gate-based quantum computing and quantum annealing. In this work, we investigate complex dynamics, i.e., chaos, in two coupled nondissipative KPOs at a few-photon level. After showing that a classical model for this system is nonintegrable and consequently exhibits chaotic behavior, we provide quantum counterparts for the classical results, which are quantum versions of the Poincar\'{e} surface of section and its lower-dimensional version defined with time integrals of the Wigner and Husimi functions, and also the initial and long-term behavior of out-of-time-ordered correlators. We conclude that some of them can be regarded as quantum signatures of chaos, together with energy-level spacing statistics (conventional signature). Thus, the system of coupled KPOs is expected to offer not only an alternative approach to quantum computing, but also a promising platform for the study on quantum chaos.