We study an optomechanical system in which a microwave field and an optical field are coupled to a common mechanical resonator. We explore methods that use these mechanical resonators to store quantum mechanical states and to transduce states between
the electromagnetic resonators from the perspective of the effect of mechanical decoherence. Besides being of fundamental interest, this coherent quantum state transfer could have important practical implications in the field of quantum information science, as it potentially allows one to overcome intrinsic limitations of both microwave and optical platforms. We discuss several state transfer protocols and study their transfer fidelity using a fully quantum mechanical model that utilizes quantum state-diffusion techniques. This work demonstrates that mechanical decoherence should not be an insurmountable obstacle in realizing high fidelity storage and transduction.
We explore the potential of direct spectroscopy of ultra-narrow optical transitions of atoms localized in an optical cavity. In contrast to stabilization against a reference cavity, which is the approach currently used for the most highly stabilized
lasers, stabilization against an atomic transition does not suffer from Brownian thermal noise. Spectroscopy of ultra-narrow optical transitions in a cavity operates in a very highly saturated regime in which non-linear effects such as bistability play an important role. From the universal behavior of the Jaynes-Cummings model with dissipation, we derive the fundamental limits for laser stabilization using direct spectroscopy of ultra-narrow atomic lines. We find that with current lattice clock experiments, laser linewidths of about 1 mHz can be achieved in principle, and the ultimate limitations of this technique are at the 1 $mu$ Hz level.
We derive a quantum master equation to treat quantum systems interacting with multiple reservoirs. The formalism is used to investigate atomic transport across a variety of lattice configurations. We demonstrate how the behavior of an electronic diod
e, a field-effect transistor, and a bipolar junction transistor can be realized with neutral, ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices. An analysis of the current fluctuations is provided for the case of the atomtronic diode. Finally, we show that it is possible to demonstrate AND logic gate behavior in an optical lattice.
Alkaline-earth like atoms with ultra-narrow optical transitions enable superradiance in steady state. The emitted light promises to have an unprecedented stability with a linewidth as narrow as a few millihertz. In order to evaluate the potential use
fulness of this light source as an ultrastable oscillator in clock and precision metrology applications it is crucial to understand the noise properties of this device. In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the intensity fluctuations by means of Monte-Carlo simulations and semi-classical approximations. We find that the light exhibits bunching below threshold, is to a good approximation coherent in the superradiant regime, and is chaotic above the second threshold.
Earth-alkaline-like atoms with ultra-narrow transitions open the door to a new regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics. That regime is characterized by a critical photon number that is many orders of magnitude smaller than what can be achieved in co
nventional systems. We show that it is possible to achieve superradiance in steady state with such systems. We discuss the basic underlying mechanisms as well as the key experimental requirements
We describe a scheme for probing a gas of ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice and moving in the presence of an external potential. The probe is non-destructive and uses the existing lattice fields as the measurement device. Two counter-prop
agating cavity fields simultaneously set up a conservative lattice potential and a weak quantum probe of the atomic motion. Balanced heterodyne detection of the probe field at the cavity output along with integration in time and across the atomic cloud yield information about the atomic dynamics in a single run. The scheme is applied to a measurement of the Bloch oscillation frequency for atoms moving in the presence of the local gravitational potential. Signal-to-noise ratios are estimated to be as high as $10^4$.
We propose a new light source based on having alkaline-earth atoms in an optical lattice collectively emit photons on an ultra-narrow clock transition into the mode of a high Q-resonator. The resultant optical radiation has an extremely narrow linewi
dth in the mHz range, even smaller than that of the clock transition itself due to collective effects. A power level of order $10^{-12}W$ is possible, sufficient for phase-locking a slave optical local oscillator. Realizing this light source has the potential to improve the stability of the best clocks by two orders of magnitude.
Interferometry with Heisenberg limited phase resolution may play an important role in the next generation of atomic clocks, gravitational wave detectors, and in quantum information science. For experimental implementations the robustness of the phase
resolution is crucial since any experimental realization will be subject to imperfections. In this article we study the robustness of phase reconstruction with two number states as input subject to fluctuations in the state preparation. We find that the phase resolution is insensitive to fluctuations in the total number of particles and robust against noise in the number difference at the input. The phase resolution depends on the uncertainty in the number difference in a universal way that has a clear physical interpretation: Fundamental noise due to the Heisenberg limit and noise due to state preparation imperfection contribute essentially independently to the total uncertainty in the phase. For number difference uncertainties less than one the first noise source is dominant and the phase resolution is essentially Heisenberg limited. For number difference uncertainties greater than one the noise due to state preparation imperfection is dominant and the phase resolution deteriorates linearly with the number difference uncertainty.
