Nonlinear Optomechanics for Verification, Utility and Sensing

Description du projet

Des outils révolutionnaires qui permettront des expériences avancées sur la gravité quantique

La deuxième loi du mouvement de Newton nous dit que la force exercée sur un objet par la gravité est décrite par une relation linéaire et est égale à la masse de l’objet multipliée par l’accélération provoquée par la gravité. Dans le monde quantique des déplacements extrêmement petits, les effets du champ gravitationnel quantique et les phénomènes médiés par la gravité peuvent être éminemment non linéaires. Bien que des montages expérimentaux appelés systèmes optomécaniques quantiques aient ouvert une fenêtre sur ces interactions gravitationnelles quantiques, les processus peuvent être difficiles à décrire de manière analytique et numérique. Avec le soutien du programme Actions Marie Skłodowska-Curie, le projet NOVUS développe des outils théoriques de modélisation des systèmes optomécaniques quantiques non linéaires qui repousseront les frontières de l’expérimentation et de la modélisation.

Objectif

Quantum optomechanical systems (QOMSs) are comprised of light that interacts with a small mechanical element. Their relatively high mass compared with other quantum systems and excellent sensitivity to small displacements makes them an ideal candidate for quantum sensing and tests of fundamental physics. Yet, due to the lack of analytical solutions for their nonlinear evolution, which is challenging to treat both analytically and numerically, many aspects of nonlinear QOMSs remain unexplored.

The goal of this research project entitled Nonlinear Optomechanics for Utility, Verification and Sensing (NOVUS) is to develop theoretical tools for modelling nonlinear QOMSs, which will pave the way for a number of application-oriented and fundamental studies that have thus far been unavailable. Most importantly, it will bridge the gap between theory and experiments at a time when nonlinear features are becoming increasingly accessible in the laboratory. This key focus on foundations as well as experimental applications has been reflected in the choice of host group and secondments.

Using the developed tools, I will consider some of the most promising applications of QOMSs, including gravity sensing, tests of the overlap between quantum physics and gravity, as well as fundamental questions for mesoscopic quantum systems. Precision metrology of gravitational fields have a number of fundamental and technological applications, including gravitational-wave astronomy and small-mass sensing, as well as improved earthquake detection arrays and geological surveys. Regarding low-energy tests of quantum gravity, the prospect of detecting gravity-mediated entanglement or noise signatures of quantised gravitational fields has the potential to shed light on some of the most fundamental questions in physics. The developed tools will allow me to carefully analyse the required experimental conditions, from which I can propose novel protocols and identify the optimal parameter regimes.