Controlled Dark-State Energy Storage and Work Extraction in V-Type Quantum Batteries
Abstract
The performance of a quantum battery depends not only on its ability to retain stored energy against unwanted discharge but also on the amount of useful work that can be extracted from it. Here, we investigate these complementary aspects in an ensemble of V-type qutrits coupled to a lossy cavity. By applying a finite splitting pulse to the two excited states of each qutrit, cavity-bright excitations are converted into atomic dark states, whose populations remain protected upon restoring degeneracy, even while the light-matter coupling remains active. Simulations with finite-duration pulses reveal a capture window governed by the competition among energy transfer, bright-to-dark conversion, and photon leakage. We further show that if the energy is stored in the fully symmetric atomic subspace, the passive energy is bounded by twice the transition energy for number of atoms N≥2. Consequently, if the stored energy scales extensively with N, the ratio of extractable work to stored energy approaches unity in the thermodynamic limit. Comparing different initial preparations at equal mean input energy, we find that coherent-state can yield greater finite-time ergotropy despite capturing less energy, whereas Fock-state favors greater extractable work in the stationary component. Our results demonstrate how controlled dark-state population trapping in an atom-cavity coupled system can protect stored energy while providing a conditional route toward high extractable work.
Related
- Pulse-Controlled Topologically Protected Quantum Batteries
- Geometry-Controlled Squeezed-Waveguide Enabled Quantum Batteries
- Erasure of entanglement-locked energy in multi-cell quantum batteries through decoherence
- Unequal Coherent Ergotropy at Equal Interferometric Visibility and Energy in Quantum-Controlled Interferometers
- Transverse Numerical Approach Combining Fluid-Structure Interaction and Model Reduction Methods of a Modular Thermal Energy Storage System to Improve the Energy Efficiency of District Heating Networks
BibTeX
@misc{chu2026controlled,
title = {{Controlled Dark-State Energy Storage and Work Extraction in V-Type Quantum Batteries}},
author = {Chia-Hung Chu and H. H. Jen},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.36704},
eprint = {2610.36704},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.36704},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Controlled Dark-State Energy Storage and Work Extraction in V-Type Quantum Batteries
AU - Chia-Hung Chu
AU - H. H. Jen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.36704
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.36704
AB - The performance of a quantum battery depends not only on its ability to retain stored energy against unwanted discharge but also on the amount of useful work that can be extracted from it. Here, we investigate these complementary aspects in an ensemble of V-type qutrits coupled to a lossy cavity. By applying a finite splitting pulse to the two excited states of each qutrit, cavity-bright excitations are converted into atomic dark states, whose populations remain protected upon restoring degeneracy, even while the light-matter coupling remains active. Simulations with finite-duration pulses reveal a capture window governed by the competition among energy transfer, bright-to-dark conversion, and photon leakage. We further show that if the energy is stored in the fully symmetric atomic subspace, the passive energy is bounded by twice the transition energy for number of atoms N≥2. Consequently, if the stored energy scales extensively with N, the ratio of extractable work to stored energy approaches unity in the thermodynamic limit. Comparing different initial preparations at equal mean input energy, we find that coherent-state can yield greater finite-time ergotropy despite capturing less energy, whereas Fock-state favors greater extractable work in the stationary component. Our results demonstrate how controlled dark-state population trapping in an atom-cavity coupled system can protect stored energy while providing a conditional route toward high extractable work.
ER -