We present a circuit-QED scheme which makes it possible to reach the ultrastrong-coupling regime of a nondipolar interaction between a single qubit and a quantum resonator. We show that the system Hamiltonian is well approximated by a two-photon quantum Rabi model and propose a simple scattering experiment to probe its fundamental properties. In particular, we identify a driving scheme that reveals the change in selection rules characterizing the breakdown of the rotating-wave approximation and the transition from strong to ultrastrong two-photon interactions. Finally, we show that a frequency crowding in a narrow spectral region is observable in the output fluorescence spectrum as the coupling strength approaches the collapse point, paving the way to the direct observation of the onset of the spectral collapse in a solid-state device.

• Received 19 July 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.98.053859