An elegant method to circumvent quantum measurement backaction is the use of quantum mechanics free subsystems (QMFS), with one approach involving the use of two oscillators with effective masses of opposite signs. Since negative energies, and hence masses, are a characteristic of relativistic systems a natural question is to what extent QMFS can be realized in this context. Using the example of a one-dimensional Dirac oscillator we investigate conditions under which this can be achieved, and identify Zitterbewegung or virtual pair creation as the physical mechanism that fundamentally limits the feasibility of the scheme. We propose a tabletop implementation of a Dirac oscillator system based on a spin-orbit coupled ultracold atomic sample that allows for a direct observation of the corresponding analog of virtual pair creation on quantum measurement backaction.
An elegant method to circumvent quantum measurement backaction is the use of quantum mechanics free subsystems (QMFS), with one approach involving the use of two oscillators with effective masses of opposite signs. Since negative energies, and hence masses, are a characteristic of relativistic systems a natural question is to what extent QMFS can be realized in this context. Using the example of a one-dimensional Dirac oscillator we investigate conditions under which this can be achieved, and identify Zitterbewegung or virtual pair creation as the physical mechanism that fundamentally limits the feasibility of the scheme. We propose a tabletop implementation of a Dirac oscillator system based on a spin-orbit coupled ultracold atomic sample that allows for a direct observation of the corresponding analog of virtual pair creation on quantum measurement backaction.
Quantum mechanics is potentially advantageous for certain information-processing tasks, but its probabilistic nature and requirement of measurement backaction often limit the precision of conventional classical information-processing devices, such as sensors and atomic clocks.Here we show that, by engineering the dynamics of coupled quantum systems, it is possible to construct a subsystem that evades the measurement backaction of quantum mechanics, at all times of interest, and obeys any classical dynamics, linear or nonlinear, that we choose.We call such a system a quantum-mechanics-free subsystem (QMFS).All of the observables of a QMFS are quantum-nondemolition (QND) observables; moreover, they are dynamical QND observables, thus demolishing the widely held belief that QND observables are constants of motion.QMFSs point to a new strategy for designing classical information-processing devices in regimes where quantum noise is detrimental, unifying previous approaches that employ QND observables, backaction evasion, and quantum noise cancellation.Potential applications include gravitational-wave detection, optomechanical-force sensing, atomic magnetometry, and classical computing.Demonstrations of dynamical QMFSs include the generation of broadband squeezed light for use in interferometric gravitational-wave detection, experiments using entangled atomic-spin ensembles, and implementations of the quantum Toffoli gate.
It is well established that quantum back action (QBA) can be reduced (or even completely canceled) in composite systems by engineering so-called quantum-mechanics-free subspaces (QMFSs) of commuting variables. An important ingredient in this approach is the negative-mass oscillator, a phenomenon that arises in, e.g., polarized spin ensembles and two-tone-driven optomechanical systems. Entanglement established between a system of interest and an auxiliary negative-mass reference system allows measurements of motion, fields and forces with, in principle, unlimited precision. To date, these principles have been developed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally for a number of composite systems. However, the utility of the concept has been limited by the dominating requirement of close proximity of the resonance frequencies of the system of interest and the negative-mass reference system, and by the need to embed the subsystems in a narrowband cavity, which could be problematic while at the same time achieving good overcoupling. Here we propose a general approach which overcomes these limitations by employing periodic modulation of the driving fields (e.g., two-tone driving) in combination with coherent or measurement-based anti-noise paths. This approach makes it possible to engineer a QMFS of two systems with vastly different spectra and with arbitrary signs of their masses, while dispensing with the need to embed the subsystems in a sideband-resolving cavity. We discuss the advantages of this novel approach for applications such as QBA evasion in gravitational wave detection, force sensing, and entanglement generation between disparate systems.
Quantum mechanics is potentially advantageous for certain information-processing tasks, but its probabilistic nature and requirement of measurement back action often limit the precision of conventional classical information-processing devices, such as sensors and atomic clocks. Here we show that by engineering the dynamics of coupled quantum systems, it is possible to construct a subsystem that evades the measurement back action of quantum mechanics, at all times of interest, and obeys any classical dynamics, linear or nonlinear, that we choose. We call such a system a quantum-mechanics-free subsystem (QMFS). All of the observables of a QMFS are quantum-nondemolition (QND) observables; moreover, they are dynamical QND observables, thus demolishing the widely held belief that QND observables are constants of motion. QMFSs point to a new strategy for designing classical information-processing devices in regimes where quantum noise is detrimental, unifying previous approaches that employ QND observables, back-action evasion, and quantum noise cancellation. Potential applications include gravitational-wave detection, optomechanical force sensing, atomic magnetometry, and classical computing. Demonstrations of dynamical QMFSs include the generation of broad-band squeezed light for use in interferometric gravitational-wave detection, experiments using entangled atomic spin ensembles, and implementations of the quantum Toffoli gate.
Quantum mechanics dictates that a measurement without perturbation is not possible. A textbook example is the observation of the position of an object, which imposes a random back action perturbation on the momentum. This randomness translates with time into position uncertainty, thus leading to the well known uncertainty on the measurement of motion. Here we demonstrate that the back action on an oscillator measured in a reference frame of another oscillator with an effective negative mass can be evaded in both position and momentum variables simultaneously. The mechanical oscillator is a millimeter-sized membrane and the reference negative mass oscillator is the collective spin of an atomic ensemble precessing in a magnetic field. Laser light transmitted through the hybrid system of these two disparate oscillators serves as the meter. We first observe the quantum measurement back action on each oscillator. We then demonstrate that back action at the single noise photon level is efficiently suppressed or enhanced depending on the sign of the effective mass of the reference spin oscillator. The two oscillators are separated by one meter but can be placed at a much larger distance as they are interfaced by laser light. The reference spin oscillator is insensitive to gravity and acceleration which can be efficiently detected by the mechanical oscillator in the absence of the measurement back action. The novel hybrid quantum system presented here paves the road to generation of entanglement and distant quantum communication between mechanical and spin systems and to back action free sensing of acceleration and force.
The motion of sub-atomic particles is characteristically quantum mechanical in nature. In contrast, quantum aspects of the motion of massive, many-atom objects are typically obscured by high phonon occupation and thermal noise. This contrast is now diminishing, owing to research efforts to bring the control and measurement of macroscopic motion fully into the quantum regime, using objects with masses from attograms to kilograms. This achievement will be critical for constructing force detectors sensitive to gravitational waves, verifying the correspondence principle at macroscopic scales, and realizing protocols that mechanically store and exchange quantum information. Here, we directly observe the quantization of the collective motion of an ultracold atomic ensemble by measuring the inability of a 0.6 attogram centre-of-mass mode to emit energy from its ground state. Moreover, the optical output of our strongly coupled cavity-optomechanical system contains a spectroscopic record of the energy exchanged between light and motion, directly quantifying the heat deposited by a quantum position measurement's backaction. These results, in addition to providing a method for calibrating the motion of low-occupation mechanical systems, offer new possibilities for investigating collective modes of degenerate gases and for diagnosing optomechanical measurement backaction.
The dynamics of wave packets in a relativistic Dirac oscillator is compared to that of the Jaynes-Cummings model. The strong spin-orbit coupling of the Dirac oscillator produces the entanglement of the spin with the orbital motion similar to what is observed in the model of quantum optics. The collapses and revivals of the spin which result extend to a relativistic theory our previous findings on nonrelativistic oscillator where they were known under the name of `spin-orbit pendulum'. There are important relativistic effects (lack of periodicity, zitterbewegung, negative energy states). Many of them disappear after a Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation.