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arXiv:2004.11790 · Physical Review A

Spin-exchange collisions in hot vapors creating and sustaining bipartite entanglement

K. Mouloudakis, Iannis K. Kominis

Published Jan 6, 2021• 15 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Spin-exchange collisions in alkali or alkali-noble gas vapors are at the basis of quantum sensing, nucleon structure studies, tests of fundamental symmetries, and medical imaging. We here show that spin-exchange collisions in hot alkali vapors naturally produce strong bipartite entanglement, which we explicitly quantify using the tools of quantum information science. This entanglement is shown to have a lifetime at least as long as the spin-exchange relaxation time, and to directly affect measurable spin noise observables. This is a formal theoretical demonstration that a hot and dense atomic vapor dominated by random spin-exchange collisions can support long-lived bipartite and possibly higher-order entanglement.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.103.l010401

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Spin-exchange collisions in alkali or alkali-noble gas vapors are at the basis of quantum sensing, nucleon structure studies, tests of fundamental symmetries, and medical imaging. We here show that spin-exchange collisions in hot alkali vapors naturally produce strong bipartite entanglement, which we explicitly quantify using the tools of quantum information science. This entanglement is shown to have a lifetime at least as long as the spin-exchange relaxation time, and to directly affect measurable spin noise observables. This is a formal theoretical demonstration that a hot and dense atomic vapor dominated by random spin-exchange collisions can support long-lived bipartite and possibly higher-order entanglement.
Abstract Quantum technologies use entanglement to outperform classical technologies, and often employ strong cooling and isolation to protect entangled entities from decoherence by random interactions. Here we show that the opposite strategy—promoting random interactions—can help generate and preserve entanglement. We use optical quantum non-demolition measurement to produce entanglement in a hot alkali vapor, in a regime dominated by random spin-exchange collisions. We use Bayesian statistics and spin-squeezing inequalities to show that at least 1.52(4) × 1013 of the 5.32(12) × 1013 participating atoms enter into singlet-type entangled states, which persist for tens of spin-thermalization times and span thousands of times the nearest-neighbor distance. The results show that high temperatures and strong random interactions need not destroy many-body quantum coherence, that collective measurement can produce very complex entangled states, and that the hot, strongly-interacting media now in use for extreme atomic sensing are well suited for sensing beyond the standard quantum limit.
We report an experimental and theoretical study of spin-noise correlations in a $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{133}\mathrm{Cs}$ unpolarized alkali-metal vapor dominated by spin-exchange collisions. We observe strong unequal-time interspecies correlations and account for these with a first-principles theoretical model. Since the two atomic species have different spin precession frequencies, the dual-species vapor enables the use of an additional experimental handle, the applied magnetic field, for untangling various subtypes of spin correlations. In particular, the measured cross-correlation and autocorrelation spectra shed light on a number of spin-dynamic effects involving intra-atom, interatom, intraspecies, and interspecies correlations. Cross-correlation coefficients exceeding 6060%60 have been observed at low magnetic fields, where the two spin species couple strongly via spin-exchange collisions. The understanding of such spontaneously generated correlations can motivate the design of quantum-enhanced measurements with single or multispecies spin-polarized alkali-metal vapors used in quantum sensing applications.
An ensemble of noble-gas nuclear spins is a unique quantum system that could maintain coherence for many hours at room temperature and above, owing to exceptional isolation from the environment.This isolation, however, is a mixed blessing, limiting the ability of these ensembles to interface with other quantum systems coherently.Here we show that spin-exchange collisions with alkali-metal atoms render a quantum interface for noble-gas spins without impeding their long coherence times.We formulate the many-body theory of the hybrid system and reveal a collective mechanism that strongly couples the macroscopic quantum states of the two spin ensembles.Despite their stochastic and random nature, weak collisions enable entanglement and reversible exchange of nonclassical excitations in an efficient, controllable, and deterministic process.With recent experiments now entering the strong-coupling regime, this interface paves the way toward realizing hour-long quantum memories and entanglement at room temperature.
Random spin-exchange collisions in warm alkali vapor cause rapid decoherence and act to equilibrate the spin state of the atoms in the vapor. In contrast, here we demonstrate experimentally and theoretically a coherent coupling of one alkali species to another species, mediated by these random collisions. We show that the minor species (potassium) inherits the magnetic properties of the dominant species (rubidium), including its lifetime (T_{1}), coherence time (T_{2}), gyromagnetic ratio, and spin-exchange relaxation-free magnetic-field threshold. We further show that this coupling can be completely controlled by varying the strength of the magnetic field. Finally, we explain these phenomena analytically by mode mixing of the two species via spin-exchange collisions.
An ensemble of noble-gas nuclear spins is a unique quantum system that could maintain coherence for many hours at room temperature and above, owing to exceptional isolation from the environment. This isolation, however, is a mixed blessing, limiting the ability of these ensembles to coherently interface with other quantum systems. Here we show that spin-exchange collisions with alkali-metal atoms render a quantum interface for noble-gas spins without impeding their long coherence times. We formulate the many-body theory of the hybrid system and reveal a collective mechanism that strongly couples the macroscopic quantum states of the two spin ensembles. Despite their stochastic and random nature, weak collisions enable entanglement and reversible exchange of nonclassical excitations in an efficient, controllable, and deterministic process. We outline feasible parameters for reaching the strong-coupling regime, paving the way towards an experimental realization of hour-long quantum memories and entanglement at room-temperature.