Better explicating the strengths and shortcomings of these models will help refine projections and improve transparency in the years ahead.
Image credit: Witsawat.S.
Edited by Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and accepted by the Editorial Board July 21, 2011 (received for review April 1, 2011)
Abstract
Studying mechanical resonators via radiation pressure offers a rich avenue for the exploration of quantum mechanical behavior in a macroscopic regime. However, quantum state preparation and especially quantum state reconstruction of mechanical oscillators remains a significant challenge. Here we propose a scheme to realize quantum state tomography, squeezing, and state purification of a mechanical resonator using short optical pulses. The scheme presented allows observation of mechanical quantum features despite preparation from a thermal state and is shown to be experimentally feasible using optical microcavities. Our framework thus provides a promising means to explore the quantum nature of massive mechanical oscillators and can be applied to other systems such as trapped ions.
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: michael.vanner{at}univie.ac.at.
Author contributions: M.R.V., I.P., G.D.C., M.S.K., Č.B., K.H., G.J.M., and M.A. designed research; M.R.V., I.P., G.D.C., M.S.K., Č.B., K.H., G.J.M., and M.A. performed research; and M.R.V., I.P., G.D.C., M.S.K., Č.B., K.H., G.J.M., and M.A. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. M.L. is a guest editor invited by the Editorial Board.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
Pulsed quantum optomechanics
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- Physics
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