Brillouin Quantum Optomechanics

量子力学是我们关于自然的最强大的理论之一，它以令人难以置信的精度描述了我们世界的大部分。我们对量子力学的知识和理解让我们对宇宙的基本运作有了很大的洞察，也使人类能够开发出改变范式的技术，如激光和电子芯片，这些技术现在驱动着计算机和智能手机。该奖学金旨在通过利用激光产生声音的量子态来加深我们对量子力学的理解和控制。为了实现这一目标，激光和声波将被限制在一个微型制造的设备中，这种模式被称为“耳语画廊模式”。1878年，瑞利勋爵在圣保罗大教堂观察到圆顶内壁传来的窃窃私语后，首次发现了这种类型的波传播。然后，通过将设备低温冷却到接近绝对零度的温度，并使用单光子，范纳博士和他的团队成员将在量子状态下准备这种高频声波。这种状态可能被用来实验实现声学版本的臭名昭著的“薛定谔猫”思维实验，而在这个项目中产生的技术和新知识为未来的信息处理应用开发强大的新量子物理增强技术提供了巨大的潜力。

Quantum mechanics is one of our most powerful theories of nature and describes much of our world with incredible accuracy. Our knowledge and understanding of quantum mechanics has given us great insight into the fundamental workings of the universe and also enabled humanity to develop paradigm-shifting technologies such as the laser and the electronic chips that now drive computers and smartphones. This fellowship aims to deepen our understanding and control of quantum mechanics by utilizing lasers to generate quantum states of sound. To pursue this goal, laser light and sound waves will be confined inside a microfabricated device in what's called a "whispering gallery mode". This type of wave propagation was first understood by Lord Rayleigh in 1878 following his observations in St Paul's cathedral of whispers making their way around the inner wall of the dome. Then, by cryogenically cooling the device to near absolute zero in temperature and using single photons of light, Dr Vanner and the members of his team will prepare such high-frequency sound waves in a quantum state. Such states may be used to experimentally implement a sound-based version of the infamous "Schrodinger's cat" thought experiment, and the techniques and new knowledge generated within this project provide significant potential to develop powerful new quantum-physics-enhanced technologies for the information-processing applications of the future.