Realizing spin squeezing with Rydberg interactions in an optical clock

Essay: Quantum Sensing with Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Platforms for Fundamental Physics

Atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics has been at the forefront of the development of quantum science while laying the foundation for modern technology. With the growing capabilities of quantum control of many atoms for engineered many-body states and quantum entanglement, a key question emerges: what critical impact will the second quantum revolution with ubiquitous applications of entanglement bring to bear on fundamental physics? In this Essay, we argue that a compelling long-term vision for fundamental physics and novel applications is to harness the rapid development of quantum information science to define and advance the frontiers of measurement physics, with strong potential for fundamental discoveries. As quantum technologies, such as fault-tolerant quantum computing and entangled quantum sensor networks, become much more advanced than today's realization, we wonder what doors of basic science can these tools unlock. We anticipate that some of the most intriguing and challenging problems, such as quantum aspects of gravity, fundamental symmetries, or new physics beyond the minimal standard model, will be tackled at the emerging quantum measurement frontier. Part of a series of Essays which concisely present author visions for the future of their field.

Dicke State Generation and Extreme Spin Squeezing via Rapid Adiabatic Passage

Considering the unique energy level structure of the one-axis twisting Hamiltonian in combination with standard rotations, we propose the implementation of a rapid adiabatic passage scheme on the Dicke state basis. The method permits to drive Dicke states of the many-atom system into entangled states with maximum quantum Fisher information. The designed states allow us to overcome the classical limit of phase sensitivity in quantum metrology and sensing. We show how to generate superpositions of Dicke states, which maximize metrological gain for a Ramsey interferometric measurement. The proposed scheme is remarkably robust to variations of the driving field and has favorable time scaling, especially for a small to moderate (∼1000) number of atoms, where the total time does not depend on the number of atoms.

Resolved Raman sideband cooling of a single optically trapped cesium atom

We developed a resolved Raman sideband cooling scheme that can efficiently prepare a single optically trapped cesium (Cs) atom in its motional ground states. A two-photon Raman process between two outermost Zeeman sublevels in a single hyperfine state is applied to reduce the phonon number. Our scheme is less sensitive to the variation in the magnetic field than the commonly used scheme where the two outermost Zeeman sublevels belonging to the two separate ground hyperfine states are taken. Fast optical pumping with less spontaneous emission guarantees the efficiency of the cooling process. After cooling for 50 ms, 82% of the Cs atoms populate their three-dimensional ground states. Our scheme improves the long-term stability of Raman sideband cooling in the presence of magnetic field drift and is thus suitable for cooling other trapped atoms or ions with abundant magnetic sublevels.