Superconducting circuits provide a new platform for study of nonstationary cavity QED phenomena. An example of such a phenomenon is the dynamical Lamb effect, which is the parametric excitation of an atom due to nonadiabatic modulation of its Lamb shift. This effect was initially introduced for a natural atom in a varying cavity, while we suggest its realization in a superconducting qubit-cavity system with dynamically tunable coupling. In the present paper, we study the interplay between the dynamical Lamb effect and the energy dissipation, which is unavoidable in realistic systems. We find that despite naive expectations, this interplay can lead to unexpected dynamical regimes. One of the most striking results is that photon generation from vacuum can be strongly enhanced due to qubit relaxation, which opens another channel for such a process. We also show that dissipation in the cavity can increase the qubit excited-state population. Our results can be used for experimental observation and investigation of the dynamical Lamb effect and accompanying quantum effects.

• Received 7 March 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.93.063845