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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Feynman diagrams for matter wave interferometry

We introduce a new theoretical framework based on Feynman diagrams to compute phase shifts in matter wave interferometry. The method allows for analytic computation of higher order quantum corrections, beyond the traditional semi-classical approximation. These additional terms depend on the finite size of the initial matter wavefunction and/or have higher order dependence on ℏ. We apply the method to compute the response of matter wave interferometers to power law potentials and potentials with an arbitrary spatial dependence. The analytic expressions are validated by comparing to numerical simulations, and estimates are provided for the scale of the quantum corrections to the phase shift response to the gravitational field of the earth, anharmonic trapping potentials, and gravitational fields from local proof masses. We also find that for certain experimentally feasible parameters, these corrections are large enough to be measured and could lead to systematic errors if they are not mitigated. We find that to first order in a spatially dependent potential, quantum corrections vanish when the initial matter wavepacket has spherical symmetry and the potential satisfies Laplace's equation. We anticipate these quantum corrections will be especially important for trapped matter wave interferometers and for free-space matter wave interferometers in the presence of proof masses. These interferometers are becoming increasingly sensitive tools for mobile inertial sensing, gravity surveying, tests of gravity and its interplay with quantum mechanics, and searches for dark energy.

Glick, Jonah [Northwestern U.; Fermilab] (ORCID:00↗
DOE OSTI2021

Observation of Scale Invariance in Two-Dimensional Matter-Wave Townes Solitons

We report near-deterministic generation of two-dimensional (2D) matter-wave Townes solitons, and a precision test on scale invariance in attractive 2D Boses gases. We induce a shape-controlled modulational instability in an elongated 2D matter-wave to create an array of isolated solitary waves of various sizes and peak densities. We confirm scale invariance by observing the collapse of solitary-wave density profiles onto a single curve in a dimensionless coordinate rescaled according to their peak densities, and observe that the scale-invariant profiles measured at different coupling constants can further collapse onto the universal profile of Townes solitons. The reported scaling behavior is tested with a nearly 60-fold difference in soliton interaction energies, and allows us to discuss the impact of a non-negligible magnetic dipole-dipole interaction (MDDI) on 2D scale invariance. Here, we confirm that the effect of MDDI in our alkali cesium quasi-2D samples effectively conforms to the same scaling law governed by a contact interaction to well within our experiment uncertainty.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Matter waves and clocks do not observe uniform gravitational fields

Abstract In a uniform gravitational field, classical test objects fall universally. Any reference object or observer will fall in the same universal manner. Therefore, a uniform gravitational field cannot create dynamics between observers and classical test objects. The influence of a uniform gravitational field on matter waves and clocks, however, is described inconsistently throughout research and education. To illustrate, we discuss the behavior of a matter-wave interferometer and a clock redshift experiment in a uniform gravitational field. As a consistent formulation of the equivalence principle implies, a uniform gravitational field has no observable influence on these systems and is physically equivalent to the absence of gravity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Data transmission by quantum matter wave modulation

Abstract Classical communication schemes exploiting wave modulation are the basis of our information era. Quantum information techniques with photons enable future secure data transfer in the dawn of decoding quantum computers. Here we demonstrate that also matter waves can be applied for secure data transfer. Our technique allows the transmission of a message by a quantum modulation of coherent electrons in a biprism interferometer. The data is encoded in the superposition state by a Wien filter introducing a longitudinal shift between separated matter wave packets. The transmission receiver is a delay line detector performing a dynamic contrast analysis of the fringe pattern. Our method relies on the Aharonov–Bohm effect but does not shift the phase. It is demonstrated that an eavesdropping attack will terminate the data transfer by disturbing the quantum state and introducing decoherence. Furthermore, we discuss the security limitations of the scheme due to the multi-particle aspect and propose the implementation of a key distribution protocol that can prevent active eavesdropping.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Symmetric Bloch oscillations of matter waves

Cold atoms in an optical lattice provide an ideal platform for studying Bloch oscillations. Here we extend Bloch oscillations to two superposed optical lattices that are accelerated away from one another, and show that these symmetric Bloch oscillations can split, reflect, and recombine matter waves coherently. Using the momentum parity symmetry of the Hamiltonian, we map out the energy band structure of the process and show that superpositions of momentum states are created by adiabatically following the ground state of the Hamiltonian. The relative phase and velocity of the two lattices completely determines the trajectories of different branches of the matter wave. Experimentally we demonstrate symmetric Bloch oscillations using cold cesium atoms where we form interferometers with up to 240ℏk momentum splitting, one of the largest coherent momentum splittings achieved to date. This work has applications in macroscopic tests of quantum mechanics, measurements of fundamental constants, and searches for new physics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Stimulated Emission of Signal Photons from Dark Matter Waves

The manipulation of quantum states of light has resulted in significant advancements in both dark matter searches and gravitational wave detectors. Current dark matter searches operating in the microwave frequency range use nearly quantum-limited amplifiers. Future high frequency searches will use photon counting techniques to evade the standard quantum limit. We present a signal enhancement technique that utilizes a superconducting qubit to prepare a superconducting microwave cavity in a nonclassical Fock state and stimulate the emission of a photon from a dark matter wave. By initializing the cavity in an | n = 4 ⟩ Fock state, we demonstrate a quantum enhancement technique that increases the signal photon rate and hence also the dark matter scan rate each by a factor of 2.78. Using this technique, we conduct a dark photon search in a band around 5.965 GHz ( 24.67 μ eV ), where the kinetic mixing angle ε ≥ 4.35 × 10 − 13 is excluded at the 90% confidence level. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Entanglement-enhanced matter-wave interferometry in a high-finesse cavity

An ensemble of atoms can operate as a quantum sensor by placing atoms in a superposition of two different states. Upon measurement of the sensor, each atom is individually projected into one of the two states. Creating quantum correlations between the atoms, that is entangling them, could lead to resolutions surpassing the standard quantum limit set by projections of individual atoms. Large amounts of entanglement involving the internal degrees of freedom of laser-cooled atomic ensembles have been generated in collective cavity quantum-electrodynamics systems, in which many atoms simultaneously interact with a single optical cavity mode. Here we report a matter-wave interferometer in a cavity quantum-electrodynamics system of 700 atoms that are entangled in their external degrees of freedom. In our system, each individual atom falls freely under gravity and simultaneously traverses two paths through space while entangled with the other atoms. In this work, we demonstrate both quantum non-demolition measurements and cavity-mediated spin interactions for generating squeezed momentum states with directly observed sensitivity $3.4^{+1.1}_{–0.9}$dB and $2.5^{+0.6}_{–0.6}$dB below the standard quantum limit, respectively. We successfully inject an entangled state into a Mach–Zehnder light-pulse interferometer with directly observed sensitivity $1.7^{+0.5}_{–0.5}$dB below the standard quantum limit. The combination of particle delocalization and entanglement in our approach may influence developments of enhanced inertial sensors, searches for new physics, particles and fields, future advanced gravitational wave detectors and accessing beyond mean-field quantum many-body physics.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Quantum noise limits to matter-wave interferometry

We derive the quantum limits for an atomic interferometer in which the atoms obey either Bose-Einstein or Fermi-Dirac statistics. It is found that the limiting quantum noise is due to the uncertainty associated with the particle sorting between the two branches of the interferometer. As an example, the quantum-limited sensitivity of a matter-wave gyroscope is calculated and compared with that of laser gyroscopes.

Scully, Marlan O.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100)

MAGIS-100 is a next-generation quantum sensor under construction at Fermilab that aims to explore fundamental physics with atom interferometry over a 100 m baseline. This novel detector will search for ultralight dark matter, test quantum mechanics in new regimes, and serve as a technology pathfinder for future gravitational wave detectors in a previously unexplored frequency band. It combines techniques demonstrated in state-of-the-art 10-meter-scale atom interferometers with the latest technological advances of the world’s best atomic clocks. MAGIS-100 will provide a development platform for a future kilometer-scale detector that would be sufficiently sensitive to detect gravitational waves from known sources. Here we present the science case for the MAGIS concept, review the operating principles of the detector, describe the instrument design, and study the detector systematics.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Matter-wave stripe solitons induced by helicoidal spin–orbit coupling

Highlights: • Four kinds of exact stripe soliton solutions in Bose–Einstein condensates with helicoidal spin–orbit coupling (SOC) are represented. • The influence of helicoidal SOC on the structure of stripe solitons are described in detail. • The corresponding spin polarization is expressed on the Bloch sphere. • The formation mechanism of stripe solitons and the interaction properties of moving stripe solitons are discussed. We present the exact analytical solution of stripe solitons on different backgrounds in Bose–Einstein condensates with helicoidal spin–orbit coupling (SOC). They are divided into two categories, one is stationary stripe soliton on zero background or period-wave background, the other is moving stripe soliton on zero background or plane-wave background. The period of stripe is determined by both strength and frequency of helicoidal SOC, and the oscillation amplitude of stripe is adjustable in the case of fixed total density. The corresponding spin polarization is expressed on Bloch sphere. For stationary soliton, the spin density vector take values in three directions, which is different from the Rashba–Dresslhaus coupling scheme. The spin density vectors display more complicated spatial distribution for moving stripe solitons. Meanwhile, the formation mechanism of stripe soliton and the interaction properties of moving stripe solitons are discussed. Our work enhances the understanding of stripe solitons, and is helpful for the observation of stripe phase.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Observation of a Giant Goos-Hänchen Shift for Matter Waves

The Goos-Hänchen (GH) shift describes a phenomenon in which a specularly reflected beam is translated along the reflecting surface such that the incident and reflected rays no longer intersect at the surface. Using a neutron spin-echo technique and a specially designed magnetic multilayer mirror, we have measured the relative phase between the reflected up and down neutron spin states in total reflection. The relative GH shift calculated from this phase shows a strong resonant enhancement at a particular incident neutron wave vector, which is due to a waveguiding effect in one of the magnetic layers. Calculations based on the observed phase difference between the neutron states indicate a propagation distance along the waveguide layer of 0.65 mm for the spin-down state, which we identify with the magnitude of the giant GH shift. The existence of a physical GH shift is confirmed by the observation of neutron absorption in the waveguide layer. Here, we propose ways in which our experimental method may be exploited for neutron quantum-enhanced sensing of thin magnetic layers.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Superluminal matter waves

The Dirac equation has resided among the greatest successes of modern physics since its emergence as the first quantum mechanical theory fully compatible with special relativity. This compatibility ensures that the expectation value of the velocity is less than the vacuum speed of light. Here, we show that the Dirac equation admits free-particle solutions where the peak amplitude of the wave function can travel at any velocity, including those exceeding the vacuum speed of light, despite having a subluminal velocity expectation value. The solutions are constructed by superposing basis functions with correlations in momentum space. These arbitrary velocity wave functions feature a near-constant profile and may impact quantum mechanical processes that are sensitive to the local value of the probability density as opposed to expectation values.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS2012

Methods, systems, and apparatus for storage, transfer and/or control of information via matter wave dynamics

Methods, systems and apparatus for generating atomic traps, and for storing, controlling and transferring information between first and second spatially separated phase-coherent objects, or using a single phase-coherent object. For plural objects, both phase-coherent objects have a macroscopic occupation of a particular quantum state by identical bosons or identical BCS-paired fermions. The information may be optical information, and the phase-coherent object(s) may be Bose-Einstein condensates, superfluids, or superconductors. The information is stored in the first phase-coherent object at a first storage time and recovered from the second phase-coherent object, or the same first phase-coherent object, at a second revival time. In one example, an integrated silicon wafer-based optical buffer includes an electrolytic atom source to provide the phase-coherent object(s), a nanoscale atomic trap for the phase-coherent object(s), and semiconductor-based optical sources to cool the phase-coherent object(s) and provide coupling fields for storage and transfer of optical information.

Vestergaard Hau, Lene↗
DOE OSTI2025

Warm and fuzzy dark matter: Free streaming of wave dark matter

Wave or fuzzy dark matter that is produced with relativistic wave numbers exhibits free-streaming effects analogous to warm or hot particle dark matter with relativistic momenta. Axions produced after inflation provide such a warm or mildly relativistic candidate, where the enhanced suppression and observational bounds are only moderately stronger than that from wave propagation of initially cold axions. More generally, the free-streaming damping also impacts isocurvature fluctuations from generation in causally disconnected patches. As coherent spatial fluctuations free stream away they leave incoherent and transient superpositions in their wakes. These multiple wave momentum streams are the wave analog of particle phase space fluctuations or directional collisionless damping of massive neutrinos or hot dark matter. The observable impact on both adiabatic and isocurvature fluctuations of fuzzy dark matter can differ from their cold dark matter counterparts due to free streaming depending on how warm or hot is their momentum distribution.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗