Interacting atomic interferometry for rotation sensing approaching the Heisenberg Limit

Atom interferometers provide exquisite measurements of the properties of non-inertial frames. While atomic interactions are typically detrimental to good sensing, efforts to harness entanglement to improve sensitivity remain tantalizing. Here we explore the role of interactions in an analogy between atomic gyroscopes and SQUIDs, motivated by recent experiments realizing ring shaped traps for ultracold atoms. We explore the one-dimensional limit of these ring systems with a moving weak barrier, such as that provided by a blue-detuned laser beam. In this limit, we employ Luttinger liquid theory and find an analogy with the superconducting phase-slip qubit, in which the topological charge associated with persistent currents can be put into superposition. In particular, we find that strongly-interacting atoms in such a system could be used for precision rotation sensing. We compare the performance of this new sensor to an equivalent non-interacting atom interferometer, and find improvements in sensitivity and bandwidth beyond the atomic shot-noise limit.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Algorithmic Cooling of a Quantum Simulator

Controlled quantum mechanical devices provide a means of simulating more complex quantum systems exponentially faster than classical computers. Such "quantum simulators" rely heavily upon being able to prepare the ground state of Hamiltonians, whose properties can be used to calculate correlation functions or even the solution to certain classical computations. While adiabatic preparation remains the primary means of producing such ground states, here we provide a different avenue of preparation: cooling to the ground state via simulated dissipation. This is in direct analogy to contemporary efforts to realize generalized forms of simulated annealing in quantum systems.Comment: 41 pages, 2 figue

A Quantum Model for Entropic Springs

Motivated by understanding the emergence of thermodynamic restoring forces and oscillations, we develop a quantum-mechanical model of a bath of spins coupled to the elasticity of a material. We show our model reproduces the behavior of a variety of entropic springs while enabling investigation of non-equilibrium resonator states in the quantum domain. We find our model emerges naturally in disordered elastic media such as glasses, and is an additional, expected effect in systems with anomalous specific heat and 1/f noise at low temperatures due to two-level systems that fluctuate.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Blind quantum computation using the central spin Hamiltonian

Blindness is a desirable feature in delegated computation. In the classical setting, blind computations protect the data or even the program run by a server. In the quantum regime, blind computing may also enable testing computational or other quantum properties of the server system. Here we propose a scheme for universal blind quantum computation using a quantum simulator capable of emulating Heisenberg-like Hamiltonians. Our scheme is inspired by the central spin Hamiltonian in which a single spin controls dynamics of a number of bath spins. We show how, by manipulating this spin, a client that only accesses the central spin can effectively perform blind computation on the bath spins. Remarkably, two-way quantum communication mediated by the central spin is sufficient to ensure security in the scheme. Finally, we provide explicit examples of how our universal blind quantum computation enables verification of the power of the server from classical to stabilizer to full BQP computation.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Optomechanical approach to controlling the temperature and chemical potential of light

Massless particles, including photons, are not governed by particle conservation law during their typical interaction with matter even at low energies, and thus have no chemical potential. However, in driven systems, near equilibrium dynamics can lead to equilibration of photons with a finite number, describable using an effective chemical potential [M. Hafezi et al., Phys. Rev. B 92, 174305 (2015)]. Here we build upon this general concept with an implementation appropriate for a photon-based quantum simulator. We consider how laser cooling of a well-isolated mechanical mode can provide an effective low-frequency bath for the quantum simulator system. We show that the use of auxiliary photon modes, coupled by the mechanical system, enables control of both the chemical potential and temperature of the resulting photonic quantum simulator's grand canonical ensemble.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Quantum Nonlinear Optics Near Optomechanical Instabilities

Optomechanical systems provide a unique platform for observing quantum behavior of macroscopic objects. However, efforts towards realizing nonlinear behavior at the single photon level have been inhibited by the small size of the radiation pressure interaction. Here we show that it is not necessary to reach the single-photon strong-coupling regime in order to realize significant optomechanical nonlinearities. Instead, nonlinearities at the few quanta level can be achieved, even with weak-coupling, in a two-mode optomechanical system driven near instability. In this limit, we establish a new figure of merit for realizing strong nonlinearity which scales with the single-photon optomechanical coupling and the sideband resolution of the mechanical mode with respect to the cavity linewidth. We find that current devices based on optomechanical crystals, thought to be in the weak-coupling regime, can still achieve strong quantum nonlinearity; enabling deterministic interactions between single photons.Comment: 6+3 pages, 3 figure

Engineering three-body interaction and Pfaffian states in circuit QED systems

We demonstrate a scheme to engineer the three-body interaction in circuit-QED systems by tuning a fluxonium qubit. Connecting such qubits in a square lattice and controlling the tunneling dynamics, in the form of a synthesized magnetic field, for the photon-like excitations of the system, allows the implementation of a parent Hamiltonian whose ground state is the Pfaffian wave function. Furthermore, we show that the addition of the next-nearest neighbor tunneling stabilizes the ground state, recovering the expected topological degeneracy even for small lattices. Finally, we discuss the implementation of these ideas with the current technology.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Interferometry with Synthetic Gauge Fields

We propose a compact atom interferometry scheme for measuring weak, time-dependent accelerations. Our proposal uses an ensemble of dilute trapped bosons with two internal states that couple to a synthetic gauge field with opposite charges. The trapped gauge field couples spin to momentum to allow time dependent accelerations to be continuously imparted on the internal states. We generalize this system to reduce noise and estimate the sensitivity of such a system to be S~10^-7 m / s^2 / Hz^1/2

Dynamic suppression of Rayleigh light scattering in dielectric resonators

The ultimate limits of performance for any classical optical system are set by sub-wavelength fluctuations within the host material, that may be frozen-in or even dynamically induced. The most common manifestation of such sub-wavelength disorder is Rayleigh light scattering, which is observed in nearly all wave-guiding technologies today and can lead to both irreversible radiative losses as well as undesirable intermodal coupling. While it has been shown that backscattering from disorder can be suppressed by breaking time-reversal symmetry in magneto-optic and topological insulator materials, common optical dielectrics possess neither of these properties. Here we demonstrate an optomechanical approach for dynamically suppressing Rayleigh backscattering within dielectric resonators. We achieve this by locally breaking time-reversal symmetry in a silica resonator through a Brillouin scattering interaction that is available in all materials. Near-complete suppression of Rayleigh backscattering is experimentally confirmed through three independent measurements -- the reduction of the back-reflections caused by scatterers, the elimination of a commonly seen normal-mode splitting effect, and by measurement of the reduction in intrinsic optical loss. More broadly, our results provide new evidence that it is possible to dynamically suppress Rayleigh backscattering within any optical dielectric medium, for achieving robust light propagation in nanophotonic devices in spite of the presence of scatterers or defects.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures with supplementary informatio

Dynamics of an Ion Coupled to a Parametric Superconducting Circuit

Superconducting circuits and trapped ions are promising architectures for quantum information processing. However, the natural frequencies for controlling these systems -- radio frequency ion control and microwave domain superconducting qubit control -- make direct Hamiltonian interactions between them weak. In this paper we describe a technique for coupling a trapped ion's motion to the fundamental mode of a superconducting circuit, by applying to the circuit a carefully modulated external magnetic flux. In conjunction with a non-linear element (Josephson junction), this gives the circuit an effective time-dependent inductance. We then show how to tune the external flux to generate a resonant coupling between the circuit and ion's motional mode, and discuss the limitations of this approach compared to using a time-dependent capacitance.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure