Feedback control of coherent spin states using weak nondestructive measurements
Thomas Vanderbruggen, Ralf Kohlhaas, Andréa D Bertoldi +3 more
We consider the decoherence of a pseudospin ensemble under collective random rotations and study, both theoretically and experimentally, how a nondestructive measurement combined with real-time feedback correction can protect the state against such a decoherence process. We theoretically characterize the feedback efficiency with different parameters---coherence, entropy, fidelity---and show that a maximum efficiency is reached in the weak measurement regime, when the projection of the state induced by the measurement is negligible. This article presents in detail the experimental results published previously [T. Vanderbruggen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 210503 (2013)], where the feedback scheme stabilizes coherent spin states of trapped ultracold atoms and nondestructively probes them with dispersive optical detection. In addition, we study the influence of several parameters, such as atom number and rotation angle, on the performance of the method. We analyze the various decoherence sources limiting the feedback efficiency and propose a way to mitigate their effect. The results demonstrate the potential of the method for the real-time coherent control of atom interferometers.
arXiv:1405.4749•Physical Review A•Jun 25, 2014•4 citations