Parametrically driven nonlinear oscillator at a few-photon level

We consider quantum dynamics of a parametrically driven anharmonic oscillator (PDAO) at a few-photon level. In this scheme the oscillatory mode is excited through the degenerate down-conversion process. This scheme could be experimentally realized in superconducting solid-state devices based on the nonlinearity of the Josephson junction or in cooled nano-mechanical oscillators. We investigate PDAO in the strong quantum regime that means strong Kerr-nonlinearity of the mode with respect to the mode's dissipation for two cases of excitations: by a monochromatic driving field or by a train of Gaussian pulses. We demonstrate production of the nonclassical oscillatory states with two-fold symmetry in phase-space which are approximately close to the lower pure Fock states. Production of the superposition of the Fock states for time-intervals exceeding the characteristic time of decoherence and dissipation is also shown.