Probing Planck-scale physics with quantum optics

Pikovski, Igor; Vanner, Michael R.; Aspelmeyer, Markus; Kim, M. S.; Brukner, Casla v

doi:10.1038/nphys2262

Cited by 614 publications

(674 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The pulsed measurements performed here may also be utilized for a QND-measurement-based lightmechanics quantum interface [53]. Furthermore, a sequence of four pulsed optomechanical interactions can be used to generate non-classical mechanical states of motion via an optomechanical geometric phase [54] and can even be used to experimentally explore potential quantum-gravitational phenomena [55].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cooling-by-measurement and mechanical state tomography via pulsed optomechanics

et al. 2013

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Observing a physical quantity without disturbing it is a key capability for the control of individual quantum systems. Such back-action-evading or quantum-non-demolition measurements were first introduced in the 1970s in the context of gravitational wave detection to measure weak forces on test masses by high precision monitoring of their motion. Now, such techniques have become an indispensable tool in quantum science for preparing, manipulating, and detecting quantum states of light, atoms, and other quantum systems. Here we experimentally perform rapid optical quantumnoise-limited measurements of the position of a mechanical oscillator by using pulses of light with a duration much shorter than a period of mechanical motion. Using this back-action evading interaction we performed both state preparation and full state tomography of the mechanical motional state. We have reconstructed mechanical states with a position uncertainty reduced to 19 pm, limited by the quantum fluctuations of the optical pulse, and we have performed 'cooling-by-measurement' to reduce the mechanical mode temperature from an initial 1100 K to 16 K. Future improvements to this technique may allow for quantum squeezing of mechanical motion, even from room temperature, and reconstruction of non-classical states exhibiting negative regions in their phase-space quasi-probability distribution.Experiments are now beginning to investigate nonclassical motion of massive mechanical devices [1][2][3]. This opens up new perspectives for quantum-physics enhanced applications and for tests of the foundations of physics. A versatile approach to manipulate mechanical states of motion is provided by the interaction with electromagnetic radiation, typically confined to microwave or optical cavities. Such cavity-optomechanics experiments [4][5][6][7][8] have thus far largely concentrated on high sensitivity continuous monitoring of the mechanical position [9][10][11][12][13][14]. Because of the back-action imparted by the probe onto the measured object, the precision of such a measurement is fundamentally constrained by the standard quantum limit (SQL) [15,16], and therefore only allows for classical phase-space reconstruction [9,17,18]. In order to observe quantum mechanical features that are smaller than the mechanical zero-point motion, backaction-evading measurement techniques that can surpass the SQL [19,20] are required. Following the early insights of Braginsky, beating the standard quantum limit 'can be achieved only in one way: design the probe so it "sees" only the measured observable ' [15]. Such backaction evading techniques were first realized for the detection of optical quadratures [21][22][23] and have since been used for, e.g. precision measurement of atomic ensemble spin [24][25][26][27][28] and quantum non-demolition microwave photon counting [29]. In optomechanics, to perform a back-action evading measurement of the mechanical position, a time-dependent measurement scheme is required. One prominent example is the so-called 'two-tone app...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cooling-by-measurement and mechanical state tomography via pulsed optomechanics

et al. 2013

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“…An advantage of active cooling is that it is possible to realize the ground state for the bad cavity condition given by ω eff ≪ κ [36]. This condition is also required to probe spacetime using pulsed light [13].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Progress towards this quantum regime is underway [2,[8][9][10] in the field of cavity optomechanics [11] particularly in the bad cavity regime, where the optical linewidth is broader than that of the mechanical resonance. Although the bad cavity condition is often not promising in terms of coherence because of the slow mechanical oscillation, it enables us to detect gravitational-waves [12], and potentially to probe deformed commutators [13,14], generate entangled states [15][16][17], and test wavefunction collapse models [18][19][20][21][22]. …”

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confidence: 99%

Direct measurement of optical-trap-induced decoherence

et al. 2016

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Thermal decoherence is a major obstacle to the realization of quantum coherence for massive mechanical oscillators. Although optical trapping has been used to reduce the thermal decoherence rate for such oscillators, it also increases the rate by subjecting the oscillator to stochastic forces resulting from the frequency fluctuations of the optical field, thereby setting a fundamental limit on the reduction. This is analogous to the noise penalty in an active feedback system. Here, we directly measure the rethermalizaton process for an initially cooled and optically trapped suspended mirror, and identify the current limiting decoherence rate as due to the optical trap. Our experimental study of the trap-induced decoherence rate will enable future advances in the probing of fundamental quantum mechanics in the bad cavity regime, such as testing of deformed commutators. Introduction.-Various types of optical potentials have been used to change the dynamics of mechanical systems, including atoms, thin membranes and suspended mirrors in order to, e.g. observe signatures of shot-noise radiation-pressure fluctuations [1], enhance the quality factor of the system [2], and improve the sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors [3][4][5][6]. Since an optical potential works as an ideal spring for the trapped mode in terms of energy dissipation, it can reduce the number of quanta in the mode (the so-called "optical dilution" effect) so that even a low-frequency massive oscillator will exhibit quantum behavior [7]. Progress towards this quantum regime is underway [2,[8][9][10] in the field of cavity optomechanics [11] particularly in the bad cavity regime, where the optical linewidth is broader than that of the mechanical resonance. Although the bad cavity condition is often not promising in terms of coherence because of the slow mechanical oscillation, it enables us to detect gravitational-waves [12], and potentially to probe deformed commutators [13,14], generate entangled states [15][16][17], and test wavefunction collapse models [18][19][20][21][22].

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“…Also the author studied in [20] its effects on the weak equivalence principle (WEP) and the Liouville theorem (LT) in statistical mechanics, and it was found that the GUP can potentially explain the small observed violations of the WEP in neutron interferometry experiments [21] and also predicts a modified invariant phase space which is relevant to the Liouville theorem. Recently, it was suggested in [22] that the GUP can be measured directly in Quantum Optics Lab which confirm the theoretical predictions in [16,18] The proposals for the existence of extra dimensions has opened up new doors of research in quantum gravity [23][24][25][26]. In particular, a host of interesting work is being done on different aspects of low-energy quantum gravity phenomenology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%