Composite oscillator systems for meeting user needs for time and frequency

Frequency standards are used in most navigation and telecommunications systems to provide a long term memory of either frequency, phase, or time epoch. From a systems point of view, the performance aspects of the frequency standard are weighed against other systems characteristics, such as overall performance, cost, size, and accessibility; a number of examples are very briefly reviewed. The theory of phase lock and frequency lock systems is outlined in sufficient detail that total oscillator system performance can be predicted from measurements on the individual components. As an example, details of the performance of a high spectral purity oscillator phase locked to a long term stable oscillator are given. Results for several systems, including the best system stability that can be obtained from present commercially available 5-MHz sources, are shown

Distributing fully optomechanical quantum correlations

We present a scheme to prepare quantum correlated states of two mechanical systems based on the pouring of pre-available all-optical entanglement into the state of two micro-mirrors belonging to remote and non-interacting optomechanical cavities. We show that, under realistic experimental conditions, the protocol allows for the preparation of a genuine quantum state of a composite mesoscopic system whose non-classical features extend far beyond the occurrence of entanglement. We finally discuss a way to access such mechanical correlations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review

Optical wavelength conversion of quantum states with optomechanics

An optomechanical interface that converts quantum states between optical fields with distinct wavelengths is proposed. A mechanical mode couples to two optical modes via radiation pressure and mediates the quantum state mapping between the two optical modes. A sequence of optomechanical $\pi/2$ pulses enables state-swapping between optical and mechanical states as well as the cooling of the mechanical mode. Theoretical analysis shows that high fidelity conversion can be realized for states with small photon numbers in systems with experimentally achievable parameters. The pulsed conversion process also makes it possible to maintain high conversion fidelity at elevated bath temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Fig. 4 looks weird (possible latex style problem

Measurements of the short-term stability of quartz crystal resonators: A window on future developments in crystal oscillators

Recent measurements of the inherent short-term stability of quartz crystal resonators are presented. These measurements show that quartz resonators are much more stable for times less than 1s than the best available commercial quartz oscillators. A simple model appears to explain the noise mechanism in crystal controlled oscillators and points the way to design changes which should permit more than 2 orders of magnitude improvement in their short-term stability. Calculations show that a reference signal at 1 THz, derived from frequency multiplying a 5 MHz source with the above measured crystal stability, should have an instantaneous or fast linewidth of order 1 Hz. These calculations explicitly include the noise contribution of our present multiplier chains and are briefly outlined

Implementation of controlled SWAP gates for quantum fingerprinting and photonic quantum computation

We propose a scheme to implement quantum controlled SWAP gates by directing single-photon pulses to a two-sided cavity with a single trapped atom. The resultant gates can be used to realize quantum fingerprinting and universal photonic quantum computation. The performance of the scheme is characterized under realistic experimental noise with the requirements well within the reach of the current technology.Comment: 4 page

Collapse-revival dynamics and atom-field entanglement in the non-resonant Dicke model

We consider the dynamics of atomic and field coherent states in the non-resonant Dicke model. At weak coupling an initial product state evolves into a superposition of multiple field coherent states that are correlated with the atomic configuration. This process is accompanied by the buildup and decay of atom-field entanglement and leads to the periodic collapse and revival of Rabi oscillations. We provide a perturbative derivation of the underlying dynamical mechanism that complements the rotating wave approximation at resonance. The identification of two different time scales explains how the dynamical signatures depend on the sign of detuning between the atomic and field frequency, and predicts the generation of either atomic or field cat states in the two opposite cases. We finally discuss the restrictions that the buildup of atom-field entanglement during the collapse of Rabi oscillations imposes on the validity of semi-classical approximations that neglect entanglement.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. Published versio

Realistic continuous-variable quantum teleportation with non-Gaussian resources

We present a comprehensive investigation of nonideal continuous-variable quantum teleportation implemented with entangled non-Gaussian resources. We discuss in a unified framework the main decoherence mechanisms, including imperfect Bell measurements and propagation of optical fields in lossy fibers, applying the formalism of the characteristic function. By exploiting appropriate displacement strategies, we compute analytically the success probability of teleportation for input coherent states, and two classes of non-Gaussian entangled resources: Two-mode squeezed Bell-like states (that include as particular cases photon-added and photon-subtracted de-Gaussified states), and two-mode squeezed cat-like states. We discuss the optimization procedure on the free parameters of the non-Gaussian resources at fixed values of the squeezing and of the experimental quantities determining the inefficiencies of the non-ideal protocol. It is found that non-Gaussian resources enhance significantly the efficiency of teleportation and are more robust against decoherence than the corresponding Gaussian ones. Partial information on the alphabet of input states allows further significant improvement in the performance of the non-ideal teleportation protocol.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Non-classical Photon Statistics For Two-mode Optical Fields

The non-classical property of subpoissonian photon statistics is extended from one to two-mode electromagnetic fields, incorporating the physically motivated property of invariance under passive unitary transformations. Applications to squeezed coherent states, squeezed thermal states, and superposition of coherent states are given. Dependences of extent of non-classical behaviour on the independent squeezing parameters are graphically displayed.Comment: 15 pages, RevTex, 5 figures, available by sending email to [email protected]