Quantum sensing with milligram scale optomechanical systems
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THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D
Regular Article
Quantum sensing with milligram scale optomechanical systems? Yuta Michimura1,a and Kentaro Komori2,b 1 2
Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan LIGO Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Received 31 March 2020 / Received in final form 28 April 2020 Published online 18 June 2020 c EDP Sciences / Societ`
a Italiana di Fisica / Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature, 2020 Abstract. Probing the boundary between classical and quantum mechanics has been one of the central themes in modern physics. Recently, experiments to precisely measure the force acting on milligram scale oscillators with optical cavities are attracting interest as promising tools to test quantum mechanics, decoherence mechanisms, and gravitational physics. In this paper, we review the present status of experiments using milligram scale optomechanical systems. We compare the feasibility of reaching the quantum regime with a pendulum, torsion pendulum, and optically levitated mirror. Considerations for designing a high Q pendulum, condition for torsion pendulums to have better force sensitivity than pendulums, and constraints in designing optical levitation of a mirror are presented.
1 Introduction Over the past years, both classical physics and quantum mechanics have been astonishingly successful for explaining macroscopic world and microscopic world, respectively. However, Nature’s laws at the interface between classical and quantum mechanics are still not well understood. Experiments to test quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales are naturally the strong driving force of modern physics. This includes the demonstration of quantum superposition states with superconducting quantum interference devices [1], Bose–Einstein condensates [2] and complex molecules [3,4]. With recent progress in cavity optomechanics [5,6], physicists have demonstrated the preparation of even more macroscopic objects into motional quantum ground state using light [7–9]. The progress is especially drastic at scales below nanograms, including recent demonstration of quantum back action measurement at 50 ng [10], but there are also experiments using mechanical oscillators in the range of micrograms to even kilograms [11–19]. Most of the effort in these mass ranges is especially focused on reducing the thermal decoherence by reducing the mechanical losses, to bring the oscillators into quantum regimes. Within these experiments, milligram scale oscillators are drawing attention also as precise gravity sensors [14,20], and as possible tools to experimentally explore ?
Contribution to the Topical Issue “Quantum Technologies for Gravitational Physics”, edited by Tanja Mehlst¨ aubler, Yanbei Chen, Guglielmo M. Tino, Hsien-Chi Yeh. a e-mail: [email protected] b e-mail: [email protected]
quantum gravity [21–24]. The other application would be to use these oscillators for testing the speculation that gravity might play a role in
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