New Journal of Physics (Jan 2019)

Experimental proof of quantum Zeno-assisted noise sensing

  • Hoang-Van Do,
  • Cosimo Lovecchio,
  • Ivana Mastroserio,
  • Nicole Fabbri,
  • Francesco S Cataliotti,
  • Stefano Gherardini,
  • Matthias M Müller,
  • Nicola Dalla Pozza,
  • Filippo Caruso

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab5740
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 11
p. 113056

Abstract

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In the ideal quantum Zeno (QZ) effect, repeated quantum projective measurements can freeze the coherent dynamics of a quantum system. However, in the weak QZ regime, measurement back-actions can allow the sensing of semi-classical field fluctuations. In this regard, we theoretically show how to combine the controlled manipulation of a quantum two-level system, used as a probe, with a sequence of projective measurements to have direct access to the noise correlation function. We experimentally test the effectiveness of the proposed noise sensing method on a properly engineered Bose–Einstein condensate of ${}^{87}{\rm{Rb}}$ atoms realized on an atom chip. We believe that our QZ-based approach can open a new path towards novel quantum sensing devices.

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