Quantum measurement and feedback with atomic spins

L. S. Walker

Cheryl Seow

J. M. Geremia

This chapter describes recent experiments involving continuous measurement and quantum feedback control of collective spin in a cloud of cold alkali atoms. While measurement by itself can generate entanglement between different atoms in the sample by virtue of conditional spin-squeezing, the squeezed state produced in any individual instance of the measurement is randomly distributed. Incorporating real-time feedback control into the observation process suppresses the statistical dispersion of the measurement outcome so that the same a posteriori state is achieved in every instance of the feedback-stabilized measurement.

Morgan W. Mitchell

L. K. Thomsen

This thesis considers two types of applications of quantum feedback control; feedback creation of nonclassical states of light, and controlling nonclassical properties of an ensemble of atoms. An electro-optical feedback loop will create an in-loop field with nonclassical photon statistics similar to squeezed light, resulting in fluorescence line-narrowing of a two-level atom coupled to such light. We extend this theory to study a three-level atom coupled to broadband squashed light, and confirm the two-level atom line-narrowing using a more realistic non-Markovian description of the feedback loop. The second type of application utilizes continuous QND measurement of atomic ensembles. If we measure the collective spin, then the system experiences conditional spin squeezing dependent on the measurement results. We show that feedback based on these results can continuously drive the system into the same conditioned state, resulting in deterministically reproducible spin squeezing. If we measure the atom number fluctuations of a BEC, then, due to the nonlinearity of atomic self interactions, this is also information about phase fluctuations. We show that feedback based on this information can greatly reduce the collisional broadening of the linewidth of an atom laser out-coupled from the condensate.

L K Thomsen, Stefano Mancini, Howard M. Wiseman

We discuss the theory and experimental considerations of a quantum feedback scheme for producing deterministically reproducible spin squeezing. Continuous nondemolition atom number measurement from monitoring a probe field conditionally squeezes the sample. Simultaneous feedback of the measurement results controls the quantum state such that the squeezing becomes unconditional. We find that for very strong cavity coupling and a limited number of atoms, the theoretical squeezing approaches the Heisenberg limit. Strong squeezing will still be produced at weaker coupling and even in free space (thus presenting a simple experimental test for quantum feedback). The measurement and feedback can be stopped at any time, thereby freezing the sample with a desired amount of squeezing.