Quantum Optical and Atomic Interferometry

科学项目和智力价值：该赠款将支持对光学和原子干涉测量精度的最终极限的理论研究。该研究将利用量子力学基础和量子信息理论的最新进展，开发量子干涉仪的设计和模型，这些干涉仪有可能比现有设备更敏感。干涉测量是精密测量科学的核心，这项工作将导致对量子力学对此类设备灵敏度的限制的新理解。更广泛的影响：精密干涉测量是许多类型的传感和测量设备背后的引擎，例如用于GPS的原子钟，用于敏感磁场测量的光学干涉仪，例如医学磁成像。了解这些设备的灵敏度的限制可能会导致突破，特别是在这种传感器技术和开辟新的科学和商业前景，利用这种灵敏度。这项工作也是量子信息处理的接口，这可以导致量子计算机的指数速度。两名研究生将在量子原子和光学干涉测量领域接受培训，这是一项跨学科活动，与量子科学和技术的一些最令人兴奋和快速发展的领域协同作用。

Scientific Project and Intellectual Merit: The grant will support theoretical investigations into the ultimate limits to the precision of optical and atomic interferometry. The research will exploit recent advances in the foundations of quantum mechanics and also in quantum information theory, to develop designs and models of quantum interferometers which have the potential to be orders of magnitude more sensitive than current devices. Interferometry is at the heart of much the science of precision measurement, and the work will lead to a new understanding of the limits imposed by quantum mechanics on the sensitivity of such devices. Broader Impact: Precision interferometry is the engine behind many types of sensing and measuring devices, such as atomic clocks used in GPS, optical interferometers used in sensitive magnetic field measurements, such as in medical magnetic imaging. Understanding the limits to the sensitivity of such devices could lead to breakthroughs particularly in such sensor technology and open new scientific and commercial vistas that exploit such sensitivity. The work is also at the interface of quantum information processing, which can lead to exponentially faster quantum computers. Two graduate students will be trained in this field of quantum atomic and optical interferometry, an interdisciplinary activity with synergy to a number of the most exciting and fast moving areas of quantum sciences and technologies.