Atomic-Photonic Hybrid Devices for Next-Generation Quantum Sensors

这个项目将开发进化算法，在现实的实验环境中为一系列应用寻找最先进的量子态。我们将从已知执行特定任务的状态开始，然后看看它们的性能是如何在“突变”的情况下改变的。这种方法的好处是它具有非常广泛的适用性。该方案可以量身定做，以便只包括实验室中当前可用的操作，考虑特定系统的缺陷和损失，并包括可实施的测量的重要作用。随着新的实验能力的出现，它也可以很容易地更新，甚至可以用来指导什么新的能力将在未来产生最大的不同。我们已经进行了这个过程的初始玩具模型(见图1)，它表明我们可以找到新的量子态，这些态在测量方案的精度上比常用的态有很大的提高。这非常令人兴奋，其他小组现在开始在不同的背景下研究进化算法[1]。该项目将从设置通用算法开始。一旦投入使用，我们将开始将其应用于磁场传感和安全通信背景下钻石中氮空位(NV)中心的研究[2]。我们将与实验合作者密切合作，对算法的限制将根据实验室可以取得的成果来告知。然后，我们将在一系列系统中寻求更广泛的应用，如冷原子或量子点。

This project will develop evolutionary algorithms to find state-of-the-art quantum states for a range of applications in realistic experimental settings.We will start with states that are known to perform a particular task well and then see how their performance is altered under 'mutations'.The beauty of this methodology is that it is very broadly applicable. The scheme can be tailored so that it only includes operations that are currently available in the laboratory, accounts for imperfections and losses specific to a particular system, and includes the important role of implementable measurements. It can also be updated easily as new experimental capability becomes available and even be used to guide what new capability would make the most difference in the future.We have carried out an initial toy-model of this process (see Fig. 1), which has shown that we can find new quantum states that achieve considerable gains in the precision of measurement schemes over the states that are commonly used. This is very exciting and other groups are now starting to look at evolutionaryalgorithms in a different context [1]. The project will start by setting up the general algorithm. Once this is operational, we will begin by applying it to the study of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centres in diamond in the context of magnetic field sensing and secure communications [2]. We will work closely with experimentalcollaborators and the constraints on the algorithm will be informed by what can be achieved in the laboratory. We will then seek broader applications in a range of systems such as cold atoms or quantum dots.