Control and measurement of quantum optical systems for quantum technologies

该项目将解决开放量子系统中的控制和测量问题，这与开发下一代量子技术有关。这汇集了斯特拉斯克莱德大学理论量子物理学中的不同重点领域，在三种不同类型的实验中使用了非常相似的技术，这些实验与斯特拉斯克莱德大学的实验组以及国际上其他领先的实验组都相关。特别是，我们将在两个不同的背景下研究冷却，状态工程和量子态检测的组合：（1）我们将研究新一代纳米机械谐振器的冷却，例如，考虑到最近实现的器件，其中纳米金刚石被磁性捕获，并且通过来自基于激光的位置测量的反馈机制被冷却。这些系统可能对力传感有用，并且在基本层面上为我们提供了一个重要的平台，用于理解量子系统在其尺寸扩大时的行为。 (2)我们还将研究在光学晶格中使用超冷原子的量子模拟器中的状态准备，这可以用来模拟和更好地理解固态物理的现象。目前这些系统实验的一个关键挑战是冷却到低温，以观察最敏感的量子多体相。研究这些系统中每个系统的量子态的冷却和制备需要量子光学中开发的框架的微妙不同的应用，以处理量子系统与其环境之间的相互作用。我们将涵盖这些系统的实验相关细节，并应用和进一步开发最先进的数值方法来模拟它们的行为。

This project will address aspects of control and measurement in open quantum systems, as is relevant to developing a next generation of quantum technologies. This draws together different focus areas within theoretical quantum physics at Strathclyde, making use of very similar techniques across three different types of experiments that are relevant both to experimental groups at the University of Strathclyde, and to other leading experimental groups internationally. In particular, we will look at the combination of cooling, state engineering, and quantum state detection in two different contexts:(1) We will investigate the cooling of a new generation of nanomechanical resonators, e.g., considering recently realised devices in which nanodiamonds are trapped magnetically, and cooled via feedback mechanisms from laser-based position measurement. These systems could be useful for force sensing, and on a fundamental level provide us with an important platform for understanding the behaviour of quantum systems as their size is scaled up. (2) We will also look at state preparation in quantum simulators with ultracold atoms in optical lattices, which can be used to model and better understand phenomena from solid state physics. A key challenge in current experiments with these systems is cooling to low temperatures in order to observe the most sensitive quantum many-body phasesInvestigating cooling and preparation of quantum states in each of these systems requires a subtly different application of frameworks developed in quantum optics in order to treat the interaction between a quantum system and its environment. We will cover experimentally relevant details of these systems, and apply and further develop state-of-the-art numerical methods for simulating their behaviour.