Symmetries and collective excitations in large superconducting circuits

In this work, we present theoretical tools suitable for quantitative modeling of large superconducting circuits that include one-dimensional Josephson-junction arrays. The large number of low-energy degrees of freedom and the peculiar interactions between them induced by flux quantization present a considerable challenge to the detailed modeling of such circuits. For the concrete example of the fluxonium device, we show how to address this challenge. Starting from the complete degrees of freedom of the circuit, we employ the relevant collective modes and circuit symmetries to obtain a systematic approximation scheme. Important circuit symmetries include approximate invariance under the symmetric group and lead to considerable simplifications of the theory. Selection rules restrict the possible coupling among different collective modes and help explain the remarkable accuracy of previous simplified models. Using this strategy, we obtain new predictions for the energy spectrum of the fluxonium device that can be tested with current experimental technology.