No Arabic abstract
Among the applications of optical phase measurement, the differential interference contrast microscope is widely used for the evaluation of opaque materials or biological tissues. However, the signal to noise ratio for a given light intensity is limited by the standard quantum limit (SQL), which is critical for the measurements where the probe light intensity is limited to avoid damaging the sample. The SQL can only be beaten by using {it N} quantum correlated particles, with an improvement factor of $sqrt{N}$. Here we report the first demonstration of an entanglement-enhanced microscope, which is a confocal-type differential interference contrast microscope where an entangled photon pair ({it N}=2) source is used for illumination. An image of a Q shape carved in relief on the glass surface is obtained with better visibility than with a classical light source. The signal to noise ratio is 1.35$pm$0.12 times better than that limited by the SQL.
Fiber optic gyroscopes (FOG) based on the Sagnac effect are a valuable tool in sensing and navigation and enable accurate measurements in applications ranging from spacecraft and aircraft to self-driving vehicles such as autonomous cars. As with any classical optical sensors, the ultimate performance of these devices is bounded by the standard quantum limit (SQL). Quantum-enhanced interferometry allows us to overcome this limit using non-classical states of light. Here, we report on an entangled-photon gyroscope that uses path-entangled NOON-states (N=2) to provide phase supersensitivity beyond the standard-quantum-limit.
State-of-the-art atomic clocks are based on the precise detection of the energy difference between two atomic levels, measured as a quantum phase accumulated in a given time interval. Optical-lattice clocks (OLCs) now operate at or near the standard quantum limit (SQL) that arises from the quantum noise associated with discrete measurement outcomes. While performance beyond the SQL has been achieved in microwave clocks and other atomic sensors by engineering quantum correlations (entanglement) between the atoms, the generation of entanglement on an optical-clock transition and operation of such a clock beyond the SQL represent major goals in quantum metrology that have never been demonstrated. Here we report creation of a many-atom entangled state on an optical transition, and demonstrate an OLC with an Allan deviation below the SQL. We report a metrological gain of $4.4^{+0.6}_{-0.4}$ dB over the SQL using an ensemble consisting of a few hundred 171Yb atoms, allowing us to reach a given stability $2.8{pm}0.3$ times faster than the same clock operated at the SQL. Our results should be readily applicable to other systems, thus enabling further advances in timekeeping precision and accuracy. Entanglement-enhanced OLCs will have many scientific and technological applications, including precision tests of the fundamental laws of physics, geodesy, or gravitational wave detection.
Starting from a product initial state, equal-time correlations in nonrelativistic quantum lattice models propagate within a lightcone-like causal region. The presence of entanglement in the initial state can modify this behavior, enhancing and accelerating the growth of correlations. In this paper we give a quantitative description, in the form of Lieb-Robinson-type bounds on equal-time correlation functions, of the interplay of dynamics vs. initial entanglement in quantum lattice models out of equilibrium. We test the bounds against model calculations, and also discuss applications to quantum quenches, quantum channels, and Kondo physics.
Originated from the superposition principle in quantum mechanics, coherence has been extensively studied as a kind important resource in quantum information processing. We investigate the distinguishability of coherence-breaking channels with the help of quantum entanglement. By explicitly computing the minimal error probability of channel discrimination, it is shown that entanglement can enhance the capacity of coherence-breaking channel distinguishability with same types for some cases while cannot enhanced for some other cases. For coherence-breaking channels with different types, the channel distinguishability cannot be enhanced via entanglement.
The high-precision interferometric measurement of an unknown phase is the basis for metrology in many areas of science and technology. Quantum entanglement provides an increase in sensitivity, but present techniques have only surpassed the limits of classical interferometry for the measurement of small variations about a known phase. Here we introduce a technique that combines entangled states with an adaptive algorithm to precisely estimate a completely unspecified phase, obtaining more information per photon that is possible classically. We use the technique to make the first ab initio entanglement-enhanced optical phase measurement. This approach will enable rapid, precise determination of unknown phase shifts using interferometry.