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arXiv:2410.17472 · Physical Review Research

Universal gate set for optical lattice based atom interferometry

Catie LeDesma, Kendall Mehling, John Drew Wilson, Marco M. Nicotra, Murray Holland

Published Mar 6, 2025• 15 citations
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Abstract

In this paper, we propose a paradigm for atom interferometry and demonstrate that there exists a universal set of atom optic components for inertial sensing. These components constitute gates with which we carry out quantum operations and represent input-output matter wave transformations between lattice eigenstates. Each gate is associated with a modulation pattern of the position of the optical lattice according to machine-designed protocols. In this methodology, a sensor can be reprogramed to respond to an evolving set of design priorities without modifying the hardware. We assert that such a gate set is metrologically universal, in analogy to universal gate sets for quantum computing. Experimental confirmation of the designed operation is demonstrated via imaging of the spatial evolution of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice and by measurement of the momentum probabilities following time-of-flight expansion. The representation of several basic quantum sensing circuits is presented for the measurement of inertial forces, rotating reference frames, and gravity gradients.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.7.013246

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In this paper, we propose a paradigm for atom interferometry and demonstrate that there exists a universal set of atom optic components for inertial sensing. These components constitute gates with which we carry out quantum operations and represent input-output matter wave transformations between lattice eigenstates. Each gate is associated with a modulation pattern of the position of the optical lattice according to machine-designed protocols. In this methodology, a sensor can be reprogramed to respond to an evolving set of design priorities without modifying the hardware. We assert that such a gate set is metrologically universal, in analogy to universal gate sets for quantum computing. Experimental confirmation of the designed operation is demonstrated via imaging of the spatial evolution of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice and by measurement of the momentum probabilities following time-of-flight expansion. The representation of several basic quantum sensing circuits is presented for the measurement of inertial forces, rotating reference frames, and gravity gradients.
We present theoretical and experimental progress on developing and demonstrating a novel atom interferometer. Our work is based on formulating a universal set of atom optic components for inertial sensing. These components constitute matterwave gates with which we build sensing circuits by cascading protocols in sequence. Unlike quantum computation, here our gates represent input-output matterwave transformations between lattice eigenstates. Each gate is associated with a modulation function of the position of an optical lattice according to machine-designed patterns. In this methodology, a sensor is not fixed in hardware but can be programmed and reprogrammed to respond to an evolving set of design priorities. The gates we provide are metrologically universal, in analogy to universal gate sets for quantum computing, and can therefore sense any signal. Experimental confirmation of the designed operation is demonstrated via in situ imaging of the spatial evolution of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice, and by measurement of the momentum probabilities following time-of-flight expansion. The application to several basic quantum sensing circuits is presented for the measurement of inertial forces, rotating reference frames, and gravity gradients.
Programming a quantum device describes the usage of quantum logic gates, agnostic of hardware specifics, to perform a sequence of operations with (typically) a computing or sensing task in mind. Such programs have been executed on gate-based quantum computers, which despite their noisy character, have shown the ability to optimize metrological functions, for example in the generation of spin squeezing and optimization of quantum Fisher information for signals manifesting as spin rotations in a quantum register. However, the qubits of these programmable quantum sensors are tightly spatially confined and therefore suboptimal for enclosing the kinds of large spacetime areas required for performing inertial sensing. In this work, we derive a set of quantum logic gates for a cold atom optical lattice interferometer that manipulates the momentum of atoms. Here, the operations are framed in terms of single qubit operations and mappings between qubit subspaces with internal levels given by the Bloch (crystal) eigenstates of the lattice. We describe how the quantum optimal control method of direct collocation is well suited for obtaining modulation waveforms of an optical lattice to achieve these operations in existing experimental setups.
The creation of a matter-wave interferometer can be achieved by loading Bose-Einstein condensed atoms into an optical lattice. By shaking the lattice via either phase or frequency modulation, the traditional steps of interferometry; splitting, propagating, reflecting, again propagating and then recombining the atomic wavefunction, can be implemented, allowing for the sensing of broad range of inertial signals. This approach is interesting, since the atoms can be supported against external forces and perturbations, and the system can be completely reconfigurable on-the-fly for a new design goal. We report on theoretical and experimental results in which atoms are cooled to degeneracy in a dipole trap and subsequently loaded into a multidimensional optical lattice. Shaking protocols for obtaining interferometry steps are derived via machine-design approaches consisting of machine learning and quantum optimal control. Experimental confirmation of the designed operation of a two-dimensional vector accelerometer is shown and its performance to applied accelerations measured. Both the direction and magnitude of the applied signal is varied and validation of both scenarios presented.
We theoretically study a new approach to matter-wave interferometer that utilizes ultracold atoms confined in an optical lattice. Through patterned phase modulation of the lattice, the matter wave is split, mirrored, and recombined, resulting in sensitivity to an applied inertial signal as was recently demonstrated experimentally in [LeDesma et al., arXiv:2305.17603 (2023)]. Compared to free-space equivalents, this “shaken lattice” interferometer has the advantage that atoms remain always supported against external forces and perturbations and that by applying different shaking sequences the device could be in principle made sensitive to different signals (inertial, gravitational, etc...) on the fly. In this work, we give a brief overview of this sensing platform and its working principles.
Performing interferometry in an optical lattice formed by standing waves of light offers potential advantages over its free-space equivalents since the atoms can be confined and manipulated by the optical potential. We demonstrate such an interferometer in a one-dimensional lattice and show the ability to control the atoms by imaging and reconstructing the wave function at many stages during its cycle. An acceleration signal is applied, and the resulting performance is seen to be close to the optimum possible for the time-space area enclosed according to quantum theory. Our methodology of machine design enables the sensor to be reconfigurable on the fly, and when scaled up, offers the potential to make state-of-the art inertial and gravitational sensors that will have a wide range of potential applications. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
The creation of a 1D matter-wave interferometer can be achieved by utilizing ultracold atoms loaded into an optical lattice. By shaking the lattice via either phase or frequency modulation, the traditional steps of interferometry- effectively splitting, propagating, reflecting, again propagating and then recombining the atomic wavefunction- can be implemented, allowing for the sensing of inertial signals. This approach is interesting, since the atoms can be supported against external forces and perturbations, and the system can be completely reconfigurable on-the-fly for a new design goal. We report on experimental results in which atoms are cooled into a dipole trap and subsequently loaded into an optical lattice. Shaking protocols for obtaining interferometry steps are derived via machine learning and quantum optimal control methods. We report experimental progress in realizing a shaken lattice interferometer and its sensitivity to an applied acceleration signal along with the possibility of tailoring the signal to specific scenarios. Additionally, closed loop learning from the experiment to improve signal sensitivity is explored and demonstrated.