- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine
Access Provided by Xinjiang University

Physical Review A

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Dissipation-protected energy storage in interacting multilevel quantum batteries

Yiğit Perçin1,* and Özgür E. Müstecaplıoğlu1,2,†

  • 1Department of Physics, Koç University, 34450 Sarıyer, Istanbul, Türkiye
  • 2TÜBİTAK Research Institute for Fundamental Sciences (TBAE), 41470 Gebze, Türkiye

  • *Contact author: ypercin24@ku.edu.tr
  • †Contact author: omustecap@ku.edu.tr
PDF

Phys. Rev. A 114, 022455 – Published 24 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ct48-85bk

Abstract

Dark and subradiant states have emerged as promising resources for stabilizing open quantum batteries against dissipation, but existing studies are largely limited to qubit ensembles and symmetry-based constructions. Here, we introduce a systematic, thermodynamically consistent framework for identifying long-lived energy storage states in interacting multilevel quantum batteries, combining the Davies master equation with a Morris-Shore-type decomposition of dissipative coupling blocks. Focusing on a minimal model of two interacting qutrits coupled to a common bath, we analytically construct dark, bright, and funnel states; excited states that decay exclusively into protected manifolds. We also derive quantitative robustness conditions governed by the ratio of interaction strength to anharmonicity. We show that multilevel ladder structure and exchange interactions enable energetic storage states beyond the qubit case. Numerical simulations confirm that these states exhibit long-lived energy storage under typical Markovian dissipation. Finally, we show that high-energy funnel states provide a natural design target for multilevel quantum batteries, as their decay pathways are highly structured and directed toward protected manifolds. The knowledge and understanding of these pathways offer a principled basis for developing future protection and control strategies in superconducting multilevel platforms.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (41)

  1. K. V. Hovhannisyan, M. Perarnau-Llobet, M. Huber, and A. Acín, Entanglement generation is not necessary for optimal work extraction, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 240401 (2013).
  2. R. Alicki and M. Fannes, Entanglement-boosted capacities of quantum batteries, Phys. Rev. E 87, 042123 (2013).
  3. D. Ferraro, F. Cavaliere, M. G. Genoni, G. Benenti, and M. Sassetti, Opportunities and challenges of quantum batteries, Nat. Rev. Phys. 8, 115 (2026).
  4. F. Campaioli, S. Gherardini, J. Q. Quach, M. Polini, and G. M. Andolina, Colloquium: Quantum batteries, Rev. Mod. Phys. 96, 031001 (2024).
  5. F. C. Binder, S. Vinjanampathy, K. Modi, and J. Goold, Quantum thermodynamics of general quantum processes, Phys. Rev. E 91, 032119 (2015).
  6. F. Campaioli, F. A. Pollock, F. C. Binder, L. Céleri, J. Goold, S. Vinjanampathy, and K. Modi, Enhancing the charging power of quantum batteries, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 150601 (2017).
  7. D. Ferraro, M. Campisi, G. M. Andolina, V. Pellegrini, and M. Polini, High-power collective charging of a solid-state quantum battery, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 117702 (2018).
  8. F. Barra, Dissipative charging of a quantum battery, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 210601 (2019).
  9. K. V. Hovhannisyan, F. Barra, and A. Imparato, Charging assisted by thermalization, Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 033413 (2020).
  10. A. Tejero, J. Thingna, and D. Manzano, Comment on “loss-free excitonic quantum battery”, J. Phys. Chem. C 125, 7518 (2021).
  11. J. Q. Quach and W. J. Munro, Using dark states to charge and stabilize open quantum batteries, Phys. Rev. Appl. 14, 024092 (2020).
  12. J. Liu, D. Segal, and G. Hanna, Loss-free excitonic quantum battery, J. Phys. Chem. C 123, 18303 (2019).
  13. D. Finkelstein-Shapiro, S. Felicetti, T. Hansen, T. O. Pullerits, and A. Keller, Classification of dark states in multilevel dissipative systems, Phys. Rev. A 99, 053829 (2019).
  14. G. M. Andolina, D. Farina, A. Mari, V. Pellegrini, V. Giovannetti, and M. Polini, Charger-mediated energy transfer in exactly solvable models for quantum batteries, Phys. Rev. B 98, 205423 (2018).
  15. F.-Q. Dou and F.-M. Yang, Superconducting transmon qubit-resonator quantum battery, Phys. Rev. A 107, 023725 (2023).
  16. F.-M. Yang and F.-Q. Dou, Resonator-qutrit quantum battery, Phys. Rev. A 109, 062432 (2024).
  17. C.-K. Hu, C. Liu, J. Zhao, L. Zhong, Y. Zhou, M. Liu, H. Yuan, Y. Lin, Y. Xu, G. Hu, G. Xie, Z. Liu, R. Zhou, Y. Ri, W. Zhang, R. Deng, A. Saguia, X. Linpeng, M. S. Sarandy, S. Liu, et al., Quantum charging advantage in superconducting solid-state batteries, Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 060401 (2026).
  18. G. Gemme, M. Grossi, S. Vallecorsa, M. Sassetti, and D. Ferraro, Qutrit quantum battery: Comparing different charging protocols, Phys. Rev. Res. 6, 023091 (2024).
  19. A. A. Rangelov, N. V. Vitanov, and B. W. Shore, Extension of the Morris-Shore transformation to multilevel ladders, Phys. Rev. A 74, 053402 (2006).
  20. P.-Y. Sun, H. Zhou, and F.-Q. Dou, Cavity-Heisenberg spin-j chain quantum battery and reinforcement learning optimization, New J. Phys. 27, 124513 (2025).
  21. J. R. Morris and B. W. Shore, Reduction of degenerate two-level excitation to independent two-state systems, Phys. Rev. A 27, 906 (1983).
  22. B. Ahmadi, P. Mazurek, P. Horodecki, and S. Barzanjeh, Nonreciprocal quantum batteries, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 210402 (2024).
  23. N. A. Khan and D. He, Quantum batteries: A nonreciprocal thermal edge, PRX Energy 5, 023003 (2026).
  24. M. S. Blok, V. V. Ramasesh, T. Schuster, K. O'Brien, J. M. Kreikebaum, D. Dahlen, A. Morvan, B. Yoshida, N. Y. Yao, and I. Siddiqi, Quantum information scrambling on a superconducting qutrit processor, Phys. Rev. X 11, 021010 (2021).
  25. N. Goss, A. Morvan, B. Marinelli, B. K. Mitchell, L. B. Nguyen, R. K. Naik, L. Chen, C. Jünger, J. M. Kreikebaum, D. I. Santiago, J. J. Wallman, and I. Siddiqi, High-fidelity qutrit entangling gates for superconducting circuits, Nat. Commun. 13, 7481 (2022).
  26. A. Morvan, V. V. Ramasesh, M. S. Blok, J. M. Kreikebaum, K. O'Brien, L. Chen, B. K. Mitchell, R. K. Naik, D. I. Santiago, and I. Siddiqi, Qutrit randomized benchmarking, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 210504 (2021).
  27. E. B. Davies, Markovian master equations, Commun. Math. Phys. 39, 91 (1974).
  28. H.-P. Breuer and F. Petruccione, The Theory of Open Quantum Systems (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002).
  29. M. Saadati-Niari, Coherent superpositions of states in coupled Hilbert-space using step by step Morris-Shore transformation, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 372, 138 (2016).
  30. H. Kim, Y. Song, H. G. Lee, and J. Ahn, Rabi oscillations of Morris-Shore-transformed N-state systems by elliptically polarized ultrafast laser pulses, Phys. Rev. A 91, 053421 (2015).
  31. P. P. Hofer, M. Perarnau-Llobet, L. D. M. Miranda, G. Haack, R. Silva, J. B. Brask, and N. Brunner, Markovian master equations for quantum thermal machines: Local versus global approach, New J. Phys. 19, 123037 (2017).
  32. K. N. Zlatanov, G. S. Vasilev, and N. V. Vitanov, Morris-Shore transformation for nondegenerate systems, Phys. Rev. A 102, 063113 (2020).
  33. C. Brif, R. Chakrabarti, and H. Rabitz, Control of quantum phenomena: Past, present and future, New J. Phys. 12, 075008 (2010).
  34. N. Khaneja, T. Reiss, C. Kehlet, T. S. Herbrüggen, and S. J. Glaser, Optimal control of coupled spin dynamics: Design of NMR pulse sequences by gradient ascent algorithms, J. Magn. Reson. 172, 296 (2005).
  35. J. Koch, T. M. Yu, J. Gambetta, A. A. Houck, D. I. Schuster, J. Majer, A. Blais, M. H. Devoret, S. M. Girvin, and R. J. Schoelkopf, Charge-insensitive qubit design derived from the Cooper pair box, Phys. Rev. A 76, 042319 (2007).
  36. X. Gu, A. F. Kockum, A. Miranowicz, Y. Liu, and F. Nori, Microwave photonics with superconducting quantum circuits, Phys. Rep. 718-719, 1 (2017).
  37. K. Lalumière, B. C. Sanders, A. F. van Loo, A. Fedorov, A. Wallraff, and A. Blais, Input-output theory for waveguide QED with an ensemble of inhomogeneous atoms, Phys. Rev. A 88, 043806 (2013).
  38. D. E. Chang, J. S. Douglas, A. González-Tudela, C.-L. Hung, and H. J. Kimble, Colloquium: Quantum matter built from nanoscopic lattices of atoms and photons, Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 031002 (2018).
  39. N. Massa, F. Cavaliere, and D. Ferraro, The collisional charging of a transmon quantum battery, Batteries 11, 240 (2025).
  40. S. Elghaayda, A. Ali, S. Al-Kuwari, A. Czerwinski, M. Mansour, and S. Haddadi, Performance of a superconducting quantum battery, Adv. Quantum Technol. 8, 2400651 (2025).
  41. R. H. Dicke, Coherence in spontaneous radiation processes, Phys. Rev. 93, 99 (1954).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. A 114, 022455– Published 24 August, 2026
  • Received 19 May 2026
  • Revised 19 July 2026
  • Accepted 7 August 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button

©2026 American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation