Atomic ensembles entangled by light for measurements below the standard quantum limit

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。原子钟是人类有史以来制造的最精确的设备，具有许多重要的技术应用。目前最好的原子钟受到量子力学不确定性的限制，即围绕构成时钟信号的明确定义的值的随机波动。然而，有可能实现原子之间的量子力学相关性，以减少这些波动，并提高时钟性能。 虽然在以前资助的工作中已经证明了适度的改进，但在此资助下进行的工作将证明时钟性能提高了10倍。由NSF资助的这项研究计划可以显着提高新兴的最佳时钟技术，光学跃迁原子钟的精度。这些时钟有可能达到惊人的精度，与宇宙年龄相比，精确度为10的17次方分之一，或0.1微秒。研究和教育目标将通过培养研究生，并通过整合本科生和优秀高中生到研究工作中来统一。特别是对于本科生，量子力学物体的第一手实验经验提供了一个重要的，激励和有益的教育组成部分。该方案将有助于增加妇女（目前七名研究生中有三名）和少数民族（目前一名研究生）的参与。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Atomic clocks are the most accurate devices ever made by mankind, and have many important technological applications. The best atomic clocks are currently limited by quantum mechanical uncertainties, namely random fluctuations around a well defined value that constitutes the clock signal. However, it is possible to implement quantum mechanical correlations between atoms to reduce those fluctuations, and improve clock performance. While modest improvements have already been demonstrated in previously funded work, the work performed under this grant will demonstrate an improvement in clock performance by a factor of ten.This research program funded by NSF could significantly improve the precision of the emerging best clock technology, optical-transition atomic clocks. Those clocks have the potential to reach a breathtaking accuracy of one part in ten to the seventeenth, or 0.1 microseconds compared to the age of the universe. Research and educational goals will be united by training graduate students, and by integrating undergraduate students and exceptional high-school students into the research effort. Particularly for undergraduate students, firsthand experimental experience with quantum mechanical objects provides an important, motivating and rewarding educational component. This program will contribute to increase the participation of women (currently three of seven graduate students) and minorities (currently one graduate student).