Precision measurements using atoms and molecules

人类已经观察天空几个世纪了，但我们的电磁眼和望远镜看不到整个宇宙的现象。宇宙中的每一个大质量物体都会辐射引力波，可以将信息从宇宙的遥远角落带给我们。然而，这个引力宇宙仍然隐藏在人们的视线之外，并等待着足够精确的仪器的开发，以探测由引力波引起的微弱的时空波动。拟议的研究计划旨在建造精确的原子工具，以使引力波望远镜和其他精密仪器的发展成为可能。原子和分子是我们可用的最精确的物理工具。它们的量子态可以被精确地控制，这使得它们可以被用作频率极其规则的振荡器，例如原子频率参考是电磁“音叉”。就像一套不起眼的音叉对复杂交响乐的演奏至关重要一样，电磁频率基准对于许多现代技术任务的表演也是必不可少的，包括通信、无线电测距和导航。这些稳定的振荡器提供了一组均匀分布的刻度，这些刻度也可以用来测量通过引力波引起的时空扭曲。我们的研究计划旨在构建坚固耐用和便携的新型频率基准，并可用作精密仪器的基础。在这项研究计划中开发的频率基准将在光学和太赫兹频率提供稳定的标记，可用于改进计时、精确的卫星测距以及下一代通信技术。该研究计划将培训本科生、研究生和博士后，以在高科技行业担任领导职位，在那里他们将能够利用他们在精密测量方面的经验。*为了对宇宙中最遥远的物体进行引力观测，需要更精确的原子频率参考。提高精度的途径是通过使用量子纠缠，在量子纠缠中，数千个原子的整个系综可以表现为一个关联的量子系统。使用这种纠缠的系综可以进行精度更高的测量，而不会产生单个原子和分子的不相关波动引起的噪音。我们的长期目标是研究利用量子纠缠来建立性能更好的原子和分子频率参考。这也将为使用原子和分子对基本物理理论(如量子电动力学)进行严格测试开辟道路，探索这些理论结构中的裂缝，这将标志着新的和未知的物理学的开始。

Humankind has observed the sky for centuries, but an entire universe of phenomena is invisible to our electromagnetic eyes and telescopes. Every massive object in the universe radiates gravitational waves, which can carry information to us from the far corners of the universe. Yet, this gravitational universe remains hidden from view, and awaits the development of instruments precise enough to detect the feeble spacetime fluctuations caused by gravitational waves. The proposed research program aims to construct precise atomic tools to enable the development of gravitational wave telescopes and other precision instruments. ******Atoms and molecules are the most precise physical tools available to us. Their quantum states can be exquisitely controlled, which allows them to be used as oscillators with extremely regular frequencies such atomic frequency references are electromagnetic “tuning forks”. Just as a humble set of tuning forks is vital to the performance of a complex orchestral symphony, electromagnetic frequency references are essential for the performance of many modern technological tasks, including communication, radio ranging and navigation. These stable oscillators provide sets of evenly spaced ticks, which can also be used to measure the distortions of spacetime caused by passing gravitational waves. Our research program aims to construct novel frequency references that are robust and portable, and can be used as the building blocks of precision instruments. The frequency references developed in this research program will provide stable markers at optical and terahertz frequencies, which can be used for improved time-keeping, accurate satellite ranging, and in the next generation of communications technologies. The research program will train undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs for leadership positions in the high-technology industry, where they will be able to leverage their experience with precision measurements.******To gravitationally observe the most distant objects in the universe, ever more precise atomic frequency references are needed. The path to improved precision is through the use of quantum entanglement, where an entire ensemble of thousands of atoms can behave as one correlated quantum system. Measurements with improved precision can be made using such entangled ensembles, without the noise that arises from uncorrelated fluctuations of individual atoms and molecules. Our long-term goal is to investigate the use of quantum entanglement to build atomic and molecular frequency references with enhanced performance. This will also open up ways to use atoms and molecules for stringent tests of fundamental physical theories such as quantum electrodynamics, probing for cracks in the structure of these theories that would signal the onset of new and unknown physics.