Quantum Measurement Backaction Research Articles

Spin Light Emitting Diode Based on Exciton Fine Structure Tuning in Quantum Dots.

We propose a concept of quantum dot based light emitting diode that produces circularly polarized light without magnetic contacts due to the hyperfine interaction at the crossing of the exciton levels in a weak magnetic field. The electroluminescence circular polarization degree can reach 100%. The concept is compatible with the micropillar cavities, which allows for the generation of single circularly polarized photons. Second order photon correlation function includes information about the nuclear spin dynamics in the quantum dot, and the nuclear spin state can be purified by the quantum measurement backaction.

Measurement-induced population switching

Quantum information processing is a key technology in the ongoing second quantum revolution, with a wide variety of hardware platforms competing toward its realization. An indispensable component of such hardware is a measurement device, i.e., a quantum detector that is used to determine the outcome of a computation. The act of measurement in quantum mechanics, however, is naturally invasive as the measurement apparatus becomes entangled with the system that it observes. This always leads to a disturbance in the observed system, a phenomenon called quantum measurement backaction, which should solely lead to the collapse of the quantum wave function and the physical realization of the measurement postulate of quantum mechanics. Here we demonstrate that backaction can fundamentally change the quantum system through the detection process. For quantum information processing, this means that the readout alters the system in such a way that a faulty measurement outcome is obtained. Specifically, we report a backaction-induced population switching, where the bare presence of weak, nonprojective measurements by an adjacent charge sensor inverts the electronic charge configuration of a semiconductor double quantum dot system. The transition region grows with measurement strength and is suppressed by temperature, in excellent agreement with our coherent quantum backaction model. Our result exposes backaction channels that appear at the interplay between the detector and the system environments, and opens new avenues for controlling and mitigating backaction effects in future quantum technologies.

Emergence of the geometric phase from quantum measurement back-action

The state vector representing a quantum system acquires a phase factor following an adiabatic evolution along a closed trajectory in phase space. This is the traditional example of a geometric phase, or Pancharatnam–Berry phase, a concept that has now been generalized beyond cyclic adiabatic evolutions to include generalized quantum measurements, and that has been experimentally measured in a variety of physical systems. However, a clear description of the relationship between the emergence of a geometric phase and the effects of a series of generalized quantum measurements on a quantum system has not yet been provided. Here we report that a sequence of weak measurements with continuously variable measurement strengths in a quantum optics experiment conclusively reveals that the quantum measurement back-action is the source of the geometric phase—that is, the stronger a quantum measurement, the larger the accumulated geometric phase. We furthermore find that in the limit of strong (projective) measurement there is a direct connection between the geometric phase and the sequential weak value, ordinarily associated with a series of weak quantum measurements. Following a closed evolution in the Hilbert space, the state vector of a quantum system accumulates a geometric phase factor. A series of weak measurements reveal the origin of this in the back-action of any quantum measurement.

Relativistic Measurement Backaction in the Quantum Dirac Oscillator.

An elegant method to circumvent quantum measurement backaction is the use of quantum mechanics free subsystems (QMFS), with one approach involving the use of two oscillators with effective masses of opposite signs. Since negative energies, and hence masses, are a characteristic of relativistic systems a natural question is to what extent QMFS can be realized in this context. Using the example of a one-dimensional Dirac oscillator we investigate conditions under which this can be achieved, and identify Zitterbewegung or virtual pair creation as the physical mechanism that fundamentally limits the feasibility of the scheme. We propose a tabletop implementation of a Dirac oscillator system based on a spin-orbit coupled ultracold atomic sample that allows for a direct observation of the corresponding analog of virtual pair creation on quantum measurement backaction.

Collective dynamics of multimode bosonic systems induced by weak quantum measurement

In contrast to the fully projective limit of strong quantum measurement, where the evolution is locked to a small subspace (quantum Zeno dynamics), or even frozen completely (quantum Zeno effect), the weak non-projective measurement can effectively compete with standard unitary dynamics leading to nontrivial effects. Here we consider global weak measurement addressing collective variables, thus preserving quantum superpositions due to the lack of which path information. While for certainty we focus on ultracold atoms, the idea can be generalized to other multimode quantum systems, including various quantum emitters, optomechanical arrays, and purely photonic systems with multiple-path interferometers (photonic circuits). We show that light scattering from ultracold bosons in optical lattices can be used for defining macroscopically occupied spatial modes that exhibit long-range coherent dynamics. Even if the measurement strength remains constant, the quantum measurement backaction acts on the atomic ensemble quasi-periodically and induces collective oscillatory dynamics of all the atoms. We introduce an effective model for the evolution of the spatial modes and present an analytic solution showing that the quantum jumps drive the system away from its stable point. We confirm our finding describing the atomic observables in terms of stochastic differential equations.

Classical stochastic measurement trajectories: Bosonic atomic gases in an optical cavity and quantum measurement backaction

We formulate computationally efficient classical stochastic measurement trajectories for a multimode quantum system under continuous observation. Specifically, we consider the nonlinear dynamics of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate contained within an optical cavity subject to continuous monitoring of the light leaking out of the cavity. The classical trajectories encode within a classical phase-space representation a continuous quantum measurement process conditioned on a given detection record. We derive a Fokker-Planck equation for the quasiprobability distribution of the combined condensate-cavity system. We unravel the dynamics into stochastic classical trajectories that are conditioned on the quantum measurement process of the continuously monitored system. Since the dynamics of a continuously measured observable in a many-atom system can be closely approximated by classical dynamics, the method provides a numerically efficient and accurate approach to calculate the measurement record of a large multimode quantum system. Numerical simulations of the continuously monitored dynamics of a large atom cloud reveal considerably fluctuating phase profiles between different measurement trajectories, while ensemble averages exhibit local spatially varying phase decoherence. Individual measurement trajectories lead to spatial pattern formation and optomechanical motion that solely result from the measurement backaction. The backaction of the continuous quantum measurement process, conditioned on the detection record of the photons, spontaneously breaks the symmetry of the spatial profile of the condensate and can be tailored to selectively excite collective modes.

Bloch oscillations of cold atoms in a cavity: Effects of quantum noise

We extend our theory of Bloch oscillations of cold atoms inside an optical cavity [Venkatesh et al., Phys. Rev. A 80, 063834 (2009)] to include the effects of quantum noise arising from coupling to external modes. The noise acts as a form of quantum measurement backaction by perturbing the coupled dynamics of the atoms and the light. We take it into account by solving the Heisenberg-Langevin equations for linearized fluctuations about the atomic and optical mean fields and examine how this influences the signal-to-noise ratio of a measurement of external forces using this system. In particular, we investigate the effects of changing the number of atoms, the intracavity lattice depth, and the atom-light coupling strength, and show how resonances between the Bloch oscillation dynamics and the quasiparticle spectrum have a strong influence on the signal-to-noise ratio, as well as heating effects. One of the hurdles we overcome in this paper is the proper treatment of fluctuations about time-dependent mean fields in the context of cold-atom cavity QED.

Quantum-measurement backaction from a Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to a mechanical oscillator

We study theoretically the dynamics of a hybrid optomechanical system consisting of a macroscopic mechanical membrane magnetically coupled to a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate via a nanomagnet attached at the membrane center. We demonstrate that this coupling permits us to monitor indirectly the center-of-mass position of the membrane via measurements of the spin of the condensed atoms. These measurements normally induce a significant backaction on the membrane motion, which we quantify for the cases of thermal and coherent initial states of the membrane. We discuss the possibility of measuring this quantum backaction via repeated measurements. We also investigate the potential to generate nonclassical states of the membrane, in particular Schr\"odinger-cat states, via such repeated measurements.

Observation of quantum-measurement backaction with an ultracold atomic gas

Current research on micromechanical resonators strives for quantum-limited detection of the motion of macroscopic objects. Prerequisite to this goal is the observation of measurement backaction consistent with quantum metrology limits. However, thermal noise currently dominates measurements and precludes ground-state preparation of the resonator. Here, we establish the collective motion of an ultracold atomic gas confined tightly within a Fabry–Perot optical cavity as a system for investigating the quantum mechanics of macroscopic bodies. The cavity-mode structure selects a particular collective vibrational motion that is measured by the cavity’s optical properties, actuated by the cavity optical field and subject to backaction by the quantum force fluctuations of this field. Experimentally, we quantify such fluctuations by measuring the cavity-light-induced heating of the intracavity atomic ensemble. These measurements represent the first observation of backaction on a macroscopic mechanical resonator at the standard quantum limit. Nanoscale beams are one platform for exploring quantum-mechanical phenomena in ever-larger systems. The collective motion of a macroscopic ensemble of ultracold atoms confined in an optical cavity is established as an alternative approach.