Dual-mode ground-state cooling in quadratic optomechanical systems: from multistability to general dark-mode suppression

Quantum Physics [Submitted on 16 Apr 2026] Dual-mode ground-state cooling in quadratic optomechanical systems: from multistability to general dark-mode suppression Huanhuan Wei, Yun Chen, Jing Tang, Yuangang Deng We theoretically investigate a quadratic optomechanical system comprising a single-mode optical cavity linearly coupled to one mechanical resonator and quadratically coupled to a second resonator. By tuning the cavity detuning and optomechanical coupling strengths, we demonstrate the transition from optical bistability to multistability with up to seven steady-state solutions. Notably, simultaneous ground-state cooling of both mechanical resonators occurs on the dynamically stable branch of the nonlinear steady-state solutions, offering new opportunities for combined nonlinear optical and quantum cooling functionalities. Beyond the multistable regime, we systematically study dual-mode ground-state cooling and find that robust simultaneous cooling can be achieved over a broad parameter range, except when the linear and quadratic couplings become comparable, where a dark-mode effect arises. In this case, tuning the second-order optomechanical-induced frequency shifts effectively suppresses dark-mode interference, enabling controllable and simultaneous ground-state cooling. Our results provide a versatile framework for engineering multimode quantum states in optomechanical systems and open new avenues for the development of multifunctional quantum devices, including ultra-sensitive sensors, scalable quantum memories, and integrated quantum networks. Comments: 14 pages, 7 figures, Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2604.14515 [quant-ph]   (or arXiv:2604.14515v1 [quant-ph] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.14515 Focus to learn more Submission history From: Yuangang Deng [view email] [v1] Thu, 16 Apr 2026 01:11:32 UTC (8,612 KB) Access Paper: HTML (experimental) view license Current browse context: quant-ph < prev   |   next > new | recent | 2026-04 References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar Export BibTeX Citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Demos Related Papers About arXivLabs Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)