Optimal control of a dissipative micromaser quantum battery in the ultrastrong coupling regime

Abstract: We investigate the open system dynamics of a micromaser quantum battery operating in the ultrastrong coupling (USC) regime under environmental dissipation. The battery consists of a single-mode electromagnetic cavity sequentially interacting, via the Rabi Hamiltonian, with a stream of qubits acting as chargers. Dissipative effects arise from the weak coupling of the qubit-cavity system to a thermal bath. Non-negligible in the USC regime, the counter-rotating terms substantially improve the charging speed, but also lead, in the absence of dissipation, to unbounded energy growth and highly mixed cavity states. Dissipation during each qubit-cavity interaction mitigates these detrimental effects, yielding steady-state of finite energy and ergotropy. Optimal control on qubit preparation and interaction times enhances battery's performance in: (i) Maximizing the stored ergotropy trhough an optimized charging protocol; (ii) Stabilizing the stored ergotropy against dissipative losses through an optimized measurement-based passive-feedback strategy. Overall, our numerical results demonstrate that the interplay of ultrastrong light-matter coupling, controlled dissipation, and optimized control strategies enables micromaser quantum batteries to achieve both enhanced charging performance and long-term stability under realistic conditions.