Emulating non-Markovian system-bath dynamics with parametrically driven cavities

We introduce and characterize a scheme for emulating non-Markovian quantum system-bath dynamics using the discrete electromagnetic field modes of a parametrically driven cavity. In this scheme, the character of a bosonic bath (the form of the bath spectral density) is tied directly to the shape of the real-time waveform describing periodic parametric cavity modulation. As an explicit example, we demonstrate the feasibility of this scheme for a fiber-loop experiment with currently achievable parameters, supported by numerical simulations and analytical estimates. In particular, we show that a localization transition of the spin-boson model can be accurately emulated in this fiber-loop cavity system. This localization effect is characterized by a sharp transition from partial decay to complete decay for a two-level system coupled to a bosonic bath as the bath spectral density J(ω)propto ω^s is continously tuned from the sub-ohmic (s<1) to the super-ohmic (s>1) regime. The transition is only exactly realized in the thermodynamic limit (for an infinite number of bath modes) and for sufficiently weak system-bath coupling. We highlight a competition between the weak-coupling and thermodynamic limits in this problem and show that challenges in approximately realizing the transition can nevertheless be overcome. Finally, we provide bounds on the systematic error introduced when emulating non-Markovian dynamics for arbitrary system observables. The scheme presented here can enable the realization of a modular platform for engineering custom non-Markovian baths, with potential applications in quantum thermodynamics, thermalization of many-body systems, and resource-efficient quantum simulations of open quantum systems.