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arXiv:1106.3538 · Physical Review A

Orientation-to-alignment conversion and spin squeezing

Simon Rochester, M. P. Ledbetter, T. Zigdon, A. D. Wilson‐Gordon, Dmitry Budker

Published Feb 27, 2012• 29 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The relationship between orientation-to-alignment conversion (a form of atomic polarization evolution induced by an electric field) and the phenomenon of spin squeezing is demonstrated. A ``stretched'' state of an atom or molecule with maximum angular-momentum projection along the quantization axis possesses orientation and is a quantum-mechanical minimum-uncertainty state, where the product of the equal uncertainties of the angular-momentum projections on two orthogonal directions transverse to the quantization axis is the minimum allowed by the uncertainty relation. Application of an electric field for a short time induces orientation-to-alignment conversion and produces a spin-squeezed state, in which the quantum state essentially remains a minimum-uncertainty state, but the uncertainties of the angular-momentum projections on the orthogonal directions are unequal. This property can be visualized using the angular-momentum probability surfaces, where the radius of the surface is given by the probability of measuring the maximum angular-momentum projection in that direction. Brief remarks are also given concerning collective-spin squeezing and quantum nondemolition measurements.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.85.022125

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The relationship between orientation-to-alignment conversion (a form of atomic polarization evolution induced by an electric field) and the phenomenon of spin squeezing is demonstrated. A ``stretched'' state of an atom or molecule with maximum angular-momentum projection along the quantization axis possesses orientation and is a quantum-mechanical minimum-uncertainty state, where the product of the equal uncertainties of the angular-momentum projections on two orthogonal directions transverse to the quantization axis is the minimum allowed by the uncertainty relation. Application of an electric field for a short time induces orientation-to-alignment conversion and produces a spin-squeezed state, in which the quantum state essentially remains a minimum-uncertainty state, but the uncertainties of the angular-momentum projections on the orthogonal directions are unequal. This property can be visualized using the angular-momentum probability surfaces, where the radius of the surface is given by the probability of measuring the maximum angular-momentum projection in that direction. Brief remarks are also given concerning collective-spin squeezing and quantum nondemolition measurements.
Spin- s assemblies are classified into two mutually exclusive classes: oriented and non-oriented systems. The density matrix ρ, describing oriented systems, can assume diagonal form in the angular momentum basis ( ) defined with respect to the axis of quantization, whereas the eigenstates of ρ for the non-oriented assembly cannot all be identified with states. A new scheme for constructing a mixed, non-oriented spin- s state using s (2 s +1) spinors all pointing in different directions in space and 2 s weights is discussed. Such a construction takes its inspiration from Schwinger's idea of realizing an state as being made up of ( s + m ) 'up' spinors and ( s − m ) 'down' spinors, all defined with respect to a single axis in space. Since the oriented systems are never squeezed, non-oriented spin-1 assemblies which can be prepared in the laboratory with the available NQR technology are examined for signatures of squeezing using our scheme in a frame of reference where the Heisenberg–Robertson uncertainty relation has the same form as the Schrödinger uncertainty relation. It is shown that unlike in the case of the pure spin-1 state where squeezing is synonymous with non-orientedness, a non-oriented spin-1 system need not be squeezed and the existence of entanglement is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the system to be squeezed.
Recent years have witnessed revolutionary improvement in the production, manipulation, characterization and quantification of multiatom (multiqubit) states - because of their promising applications in high precision atomic clocks, atomic interferrometry, quantum metrology and quantum information protocols. In the characterization and quantification of non-classical atomic correlations, two concepts namely, spin squeezing and quantum entanglement emerge. While spin squeezing originates from the uncertainty relation between atomic collective angular momentum operators, entanglement is a peculiar phenomena arising due to superpositions in the multiparticle Hilbert space. Here, we outline different quantitative measures of spin squeezing and discuss the intrinsic relation of spin squeezing with quantum entanglement in multiqubit systems.
We discuss the possibilities for using the correlation spectroscopy technique to study an atomic medium polarized in angular momentum. The general results of our previous paper are applied here to the analysis of the density matrix fluctuations of an atomic medium with a spin ground state. Such systems are characterized by a long ground state relaxation time in comparison with the excited state natural lifetime, so that any fluctuation of the atomic density matrix polarization is slowly dependent on the time process. We show how the quantum behaviour of low-frequency fluctuations can be observed via quantum features of scattered light statistics. In particular, we discuss the squeezing of transmitted light caused by the spin angular momentum orientation in the direction of an external magnetic field. This squeezing effect is explained by quantum non-commutation of angular momentum projections which are transverse to the magnetic field. Other applications of the polarization-sensitive correlation spectroscopy technique, such as the possible observation of the average atomic density matrix components and the measurement of different spectroscopic characteristics of the atomic ensemble, are also discussed.
The Wigner representation of angular-momentum orientation in the classical limit on $J\ensuremath{\gg}1$ has been used to derive an equation of angular-momentum motion in the case of a closed two-level system interacting with an arbitrary polarized radiation. This equation enables us to carry out a theoretical analysis of angular-momentum motion and consider final states of the quantum system for all types of dipole transitions. We have found that in the case of a zero magnetic field in the final state of the system with $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J$ or $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J+1$ optical transition, the angular momentum is directed along or opposite to the wave vector of the radiation depending on the sign of the polarization ellipsity, while for a linear polarization the angular momentum is isotropically distributed on the plane orthogonal to the polarization vector. For the $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J\ensuremath{-}1$ transition two directions of angular momentum are possible in the final state. These directions are determined by the ellipsity of polarization. The spatial size of the final distribution of the angular momentum has been defined by the quantum uncertainty, 1/J,1/\sqrt{J},1/J​, of the angular-momentum orientation. In the case of the $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J\ensuremath{-}1$ or $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J,$ transition particles come into ``dark'' states while for the $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J+1$ transition they occupy the ``brightest'' state. In the presence of a nonzero magnetic field, particles with $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J$ transition have in the final state only one angular-momentum orientation, i.e., along or opposite to the direction of the magnetic field depending on the polarization ellipsity sign. For the $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J+1$ transition both directions are possible, i.e., along and opposite to the magnetic field. In the case of the $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{J}J\ensuremath{-}1$ transition the directions of the angular momentum form a cone around the magnetic field.
We investigate the properties of angular-momentum states which yield high sensitivity to rotation. We discuss the application of these ``squeezed-spin'' or correlated-particle states to spectroscopy. Transitions in an ensemble of N two-level (or, equivalently, spin-1/2) particles are assumed to be detected by observing changes in the state populations of the particles (population spectroscopy). When the particles' states are detected with 100% efficiency, the fundamental limiting noise is projection noise, the noise associated with the quantum fluctuations in the measured populations. If the particles are first prepared in particular quantum-mechanically correlated states, we find that the signal-to-noise ratio can be improved over the case of initially uncorrelated particles. We have investigated spectroscopy for a particular case of Ramsey's separated oscillatory method where the radiation pulse lengths are short compared to the time between pulses. We introduce a squeezing parameter ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{\mathit{R}}$ which is the ratio of the statistical uncertainty in the determination of the resonance frequency when using correlated states vs that when using uncorrelated states. More generally, this squeezing parameter quantifies the sensitivity of an angular-momentum state to rotation. Other squeezing parameters which are relevant for use in other contexts can be defined. We discuss certain states which exhibit squeezing parameters ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{\mathit{R}}$\ensuremath{\simeq}${\mathit{N}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1/2}$. We investigate possible experimental schemes for generation of squeezed-spin states which might be applied to the spectroscopy of trapped atomic ions. We find that applying a Jaynes-Cummings--type coupling between the ensemble of two-level systems and a suitably prepared harmonic oscillator results in correlated states with ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{\mathit{R}}$1.