Josephson Junctions as Single Microwave Photon Counters: Simulation and Characterization

Detection of light dark matter, such as axion-like particles, puts stringent requirements on the efficiency and dark-count rates of microwave-photon detectors. The possibility of operating a current-biased Josephson junction as a single-microwave photon-detector was investigated through numerical simulations, and through an initial characterization of two Al junctions fabricated by shadow mask evaporation, done in a dilution refrigerator by measuring escape currents at different temperatures, from 40 mK up to the Al transition temperature. The escape dynamics of the junctions were reproduced in the simulation, including the dissipative effects. Inhibition of thermal activation was observed, leaving the macroscopic quantum tunneling as the dominant effect well beyond the crossover temperature.

From black hole to white hole via the intermediate static state

We discuss the macroscopic quantum tunneling from the black hole to the white hole of the same mass. Previous calculations in [G. E. Volovik, Universe 6, 133 (2020)] demonstrated that the probability of the tunneling is [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the entropy of the Schwarzschild black hole. This in particular suggests that the entropy of the white hole is with minus sign the entropy of the black hole, [Formula: see text]. Here, we use a different way of calculations. We consider three different types of the hole objects: black hole, white hole and the fully static intermediate state. The probability of tunneling transitions between these three states is found using singularities in the coordinate transformations between these objects. The black and white holes are described by the Painleve–Gullstrand coordinates with opposite shift vectors, while the intermediate state is described by the static Schwarzschild coordinates. The singularities in the coordinate transformations lead to the imaginary part in the action, which determines the tunneling exponent. For the white hole the same negative entropy is obtained, while the intermediate state — the fully static hole — has zero entropy. This procedure is extended to the Reissner–Nordström black hole and to its white and static partners, and also to the entropy and temperature of the de Sitter Universe.

The role of dissipation in macroscopic quantum tunneling and in near-field propagation

A stochastic model, which demonstrated to be capable of determining dissipative effects in the microwave circuits loading superconducting devices, is found to be suitable also for analyzing near-field microwave propagation when the wave attenuation is interpreted as a dissipative effect. An alternative approach to the problem is offered by Feynman’s transition elements.