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arXiv:quant-ph/0112126 · Physical Review A

Atom correlations and spin squeezing near the Heisenberg limit: Finite-size effect and decoherence

Axel André, Mikhail D. Lukin

Published May 8, 2002• 73 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We analyze a model for spin squeezing based on the so-called countertwisting Hamiltonian, including the effects of dissipation and finite system size. We discuss the conditions under which the Heisenberg limit, i.e., phase sensitivity $\ensuremath{\propto}1/N,$ can be achieved. A specific implementation of this model based on atom-atom interactions via quantized photon exchange is presented in detail. The resulting excitation corresponds to the creation of spin-flipped atomic pairs and can be used for fast generation of entangled atomic ensembles, spin squeezing, and applications in quantum information processing. The conditions for achieving strong spin squeezing with this mechanism are also analyzed.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.65.053819

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We analyze a model for spin squeezing based on the so-called countertwisting Hamiltonian, including the effects of dissipation and finite system size. We discuss the conditions under which the Heisenberg limit, i.e., phase sensitivity \ensuremath∝1/N,\ensuremath{\propto}1/N,\ensuremath∝1/N, can be achieved. A specific implementation of this model based on atom-atom interactions via quantized photon exchange is presented in detail. The resulting excitation corresponds to the creation of spin-flipped atomic pairs and can be used for fast generation of entangled atomic ensembles, spin squeezing, and applications in quantum information processing. The conditions for achieving strong spin squeezing with this mechanism are also analyzed.
We propose a robust approach to spin squeezing with local interactions that approaches the Heisenberg limit of phase sensitivity. To generate the requisite entanglement, we generalize the paradigmatic two-axis countertwisting Hamiltonian -- akin to squeezing by parametric amplification -- to systems with power-law interactions, incorporating a Heisenberg coupling that aids in spreading correlations and protects the collective spin coherence. The resulting time to approach the Heisenberg limit scales sublinearly with particle number in 2D dipolar and 3D van der Waals interacting systems. Our protocol is robust to disorder and density fluctuations, and can be implemented in near-term experiments with molecules, Rydberg atoms, and solid-state spins.
The generation of entanglement in atomic systems plays a central topic in the fields of quantum information storage and processing. Moreover, a special category of entangled states of multi-atom ensembles, spin squeezed states, have been proven to lead to considerable improvement in the sensitivity of precision measurements compared to systems involving uncorrelated atoms. A treatment of entanglement in open systems is, however, incomplete without a precise description of the process of decoherence which necessarily accompanies it. The theory of entanglement and decoherence are the two main topics of this thesis. Methods are described for the generation of strong correlations in large atomic ensembles using either cavity quantum electrodynamics or measurement outcome conditioned quantum dynamics. Moreover, the description of loss of entanglement resulting from the coupling to a noise reservoir (electromagnetic vacuum) is explored. A spin squeezing parameter is used throughout this thesis as both a measure of entanglement strength and as an indication of the sensitivity improvement above the so-called standard quantum limit (sensitivity obtained with uncorrelated particles) in metrology. The first scheme considered consists of a single mode cavity field interacting with a collection of atoms for which spin squeezing is produced in both resonant and off-resonant regimes. In the resonant case, transfer of squeezing from a field state to the atoms is analyzed, while in the off-resonant regime squeezing is produced via an effective nonlinear interaction (one-axis twisting Hamiltonian). A second, more experimentally realistic case, is one involving the interaction of free space atoms with laser pulses; a projective measurement of a source field originating from atomic fluctuations provides a means of preparing atomic collective states such as spin squeezed and Schrodinger cat states. A new unravelling is proposed, that employs the detection of photon number in a single output channel and is capable of producing mesoscopic Schrodinger cat states in a single step. As a first step to understanding the role of cooperative decoherence, of importance in the case of dense pencil-shaped atomic ensembles, the collective spin decoherence of a two multilevel atom system is derived. This calculation is also relevant to entanglement loss for two qubits manipulated using with reading/writing pulses. Finally, a scheme is proposed in which arbitrarily strong entanglement can be produced in a four-wave mixing setup, where the preparation of the atoms in a dark state limits the decoherence to negligible values.
This paper reviews quantum spin squeezing, which characterizes the sensitivity of a state with respect to SU(2) rotations, and is significant for both entanglement detection and high-precision metrology. We first present various definitions of spin squeezing parameters, explain their origin and properties for typical states, and then discuss spin-squeezed states produced with nonlinear twisting Hamiltonians. Afterwards, we explain pairwise correlations and entanglement in spin-squeezed states, as well as the relations between spin squeezing and quantum Fisher information, where the latter plays a central role in quantum metrology. We also review the applications of spin squeezing for detecting quantum chaos and quantum phase transitions, as well as the influence of decoherence on spin squeezing. Finally, we review several experimental realizations of spin squeezing, as well as their corresponding theoretical backgrounds, including: producing spin-squeezed states via particle collisions in Bose-Einstein condensates, transferring photon squeezing to atomic ensembles, and generating spin squeezing via quantum non-demolition measurements.
Taking into account the dephasing process in the realistic atomic ensemble, we theoretically study the generation of atomic spin squeezing via atomic coherence induced by the coupling and probe fields. Using the Heisenberg–Langevin approach, we find that the perfect spin squeezing in the X component can be obtained while the coupling and probe fields produce the maximum coherence between the ground state sublevels 1 and 2. Moreover, the degree of atomic spin squeezing in the X component can be strengthened with the increasing atomic density and/or Rabi frequency of the mixing field. The theoretical results provide a proof-of-principle demonstration of generating the atomic spin squeezing via quantum coherence in the realistic atomic ensemble which may find potential applications in quantum information processing and quantum networks.
In most proposals for the generation of entanglement in large ensembles of atoms via projective measurements, the interaction with the vacuum is responsible for both the generation of the signal that is detected and the spin depolarization or decoherence. In consequence, one must usually work in a regime where the information acquisition via detection is sufficiently slow (weak measurement regime) such as not to strongly disturb the system. We propose here a four-wave mixing scheme where, owing to the pumping of the atomic system into a dark state, the polarization of the ensemble is not critically affected by spontaneous emission. In the language of spin squeezing, the removal of the limitations imposed by spontaneous emission allows one to work in a strong signal regime where the Heisenberg limit can be reached.
Spin squeezing has been explored in atomic systems as a tool for quantum sensing, improving experimental sensitivity beyond the spin standard quantum limit for certain measurements. To optimize absolute metrological sensitivity, it is beneficial to consider macroscopic spin ensembles, such as nuclear spins in solids and liquids. Coupling a macroscopic spin ensemble to a parametrically-modulated resonant circuit can create collective spin squeezing by generating spin correlations mediated by the circuit. We analyze the squeezing dynamics in the presence of decoherence and finite spin polarization, showing that achieving 7 dB spin squeezing is feasible in several nuclear spin systems. The metrological benefit of squeezing a macroscopic spin ensemble lies in the suppression of technical noise sources in the spin detection system relative to the spin projection noise. This expands the experimental sensitivity bandwidth when searching for signals of unknown frequency and can improve the resonant signal-to-noise ratio. Squeezing macroscopic spin ensembles may prove to be a useful technique for fundamental physics experiments aimed at detecting spin interactions with oscillating background fields, such as ultralight dark matter.