arXiv subjects

Dhruva Ganapathy

Publications and source records attributed to Dhruva Ganapathy.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Observing and evading quantum back-action on a kilogram-scale oscillator

Continuous quantum displacement measurements are fundamentally limited by a trade-off between readout imprecision and measurement back-action, constrained by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. In the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), these two quantum noise components dominate much of the observation band, making it an excellent testbed. We induce a sub-Hz-linewidth optomechanical mode by trapping the differential motion of the 40-kg mirrors in a band where radiation-pressure back-action dominates the motion. Engineering the quantum state entering the dark port creates correlations between imprecision and back-action that partially cancel their contributions, reducing observed motion near resonance by ~47%. A framework resolving the imprecision, back-action, and correlation terms identifies the origin of this suppression. These results demonstrate quantum back-action evasion and quantum reservoir engineering in a macroscopic optomechanical system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Gravitational-wave astronomy with a space-based optical clock network

Since the first detection of a merging binary black hole system a decade ago, gravitational-wave astronomy has emerged as a powerful tool for astrophysics. Future space-based observatories, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), will unlock the millihertz (mHz) band, which remains entirely inaccessible to ground-based detectors due to terrestrial noise. In parallel, proposed atom-based gravitational-wave detectors, specifically those based on space-based optical clocks and atom interferometers, offer capabilities that are unique and complementary to traditional optical interferometers. Their highly tunable character enables sensitive measurements across a broad frequency band extending from the mHz up to and possibly even above the Hz regime. In this work, we investigate the use of one-way Doppler tracking in space-based atomic clock networks operating in concert with detectors like LISA. We analyze the dominant noise sources and develop dedicated measurement protocols, which operate in a targeted mode, using an externally supplied signal model to track the response coherently as the source chirps. Performing preliminary parameter estimation on simulated signals, we demonstrate how these detectors could be used to extract critical astrophysical information about binary gravitational-wave sources. We further show that the same instrument retains sensitivity in a search mode, where no prior on the source is assumed.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Enhancing optical lattice clock coherence times with erasure conversion

Increasing coherent interrogation times is central to advancing the precision of optical clocks. Synchronous differential optical clock comparisons have now demonstrated atomic coherence times that far exceed the coherence time of the clock laser. While atom coherence times are then primarily limited by errors induced by lattice Raman scattering, excited clock state radiative decay, and broadening from two-body collisions, many of these errors take the atoms out of the clock transition subspace, and can therefore be converted into "erasure" errors if the appropriate readout scheme is employed. Here we experimentally demonstrate a hyperfine-resolved readout technique for ${}^{87}$Sr optical lattice clocks that mitigates decoherence from Raman scattering induced by the lattice as well as radiative decay. By employing hyperfine-resolved readout in synchronous differential comparisons between ${}^{87}$Sr ensembles with both Ramsey and spin echo spectroscopy sequences, we achieve enhanced atomic coherence times exceeding 100 s and 150 s, respectively, enabling longer coherent measurements without a reduction in performance. We anticipate that this hyperfine-resolved readout technique will benefit applications of state-of-the-art optical lattice clock comparisons in which the coherence times are constrained by Raman scattering or radiative decay.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2025

Direct measurement of the 3P0 clock state natural lifetime in 87Sr

Optical lattice clocks based on the narrow (5s2)1S0 - (5s5p)3P0 transition in neutral strontium (Sr) are among the most precise and accurate measurement devices in existence. Although this transition is completely forbidden by selection rules, state mixing from the hyperfine interaction in 87Sr provides a weakly allowed transition that can be coherently driven with practical clock laser intensities. While the coherent interrogation times of optical clocks are typically set by the linewidth of the probe laser, this limitation can be overcome in synchronous differential comparisons between ensembles. In such measurements the natural lifetime of the 1S0-3P0 clock transition becomes the fundamental limiting factor to the duration of a single run of the experiment. However, a direct measurement of the decay rate of the clock excited state is quite challenging due to the competing effects of other loss channels such as Raman scattering, inelastic collisions and atom-loss due to background gas. In this work, we monitor the decay of Sr atoms trapped in an optical lattice and initialized in the 3P0 state. By making measurements of high and low density ensembles of both 87Sr and 88Sr across varying lattice trap depths, we isolate radiative decay, which accounts for a significant fraction of the observed decays at low depths. We obtain a natural radiative decay lifetime of 167(+79/-40) s for the 3P0 clock state in 87Sr, a value that is consistent with previously reported measurements and theoretical predictions. We also introduce an additional measurement scheme that involves repeated measurements of the ground state population within a single experimental sequence, validating our model and the consistency of the measured rates.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2024

Squeezing the quantum noise of a gravitational-wave detector below the standard quantum limit

Precision measurements of space and time, like those made by the detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), are often confronted with fundamental limitations imposed by quantum mechanics. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle dictates that the position and momentum of an object cannot both be precisely measured, giving rise to an apparent limitation called the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL). Reducing quantum noise below the SQL in gravitational-wave detectors, where photons are used to continuously measure the positions of freely falling mirrors, has been an active area of research for decades. Here we show how the LIGO A+ upgrade reduced the detectors' quantum noise below the SQL by up to 3 dB while achieving a broadband sensitivity improvement, more than two decades after this possibility was first presented.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Causal State Estimation and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

The observables of a noisy quantum system can be estimated by appropriately filtering the records of their continuous measurement. Such filtering is relevant for state estimation and measurement-based quantum feedback control. It is therefore imperative that the observables estimated through a causal filter satisfy the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. In the Markovian setting, prior work implicitly guarantees this requirement. We show that any causal estimate of linear observables of a linear, but not necessarily Markovian, system will satisfy the uncertainty principle. In particular, this is true irrespective of any feedback control of the system and of where in the feedback loop -- inside or outside -- the measurement record is accessed. Indeed, causal estimators using the in-loop measurement record can be as precise as those using the out-of-loop record. These results clarify the role of causal estimators to a large class of quantum systems, restores the equanimity of in-loop and out-of-loop measurements in their estimation and control, and simplifies future experiments on measurement-based quantum feedback control.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Probing squeezing for gravitational-wave detectors with an audio-band field

Squeezed vacuum states are now employed in gravitational-wave interferometric detectors, enhancing their sensitivity and thus enabling richer astrophysical observations. In future observing runs, the detectors will incorporate a filter cavity to suppress quantum radiation pressure noise using frequency-dependent squeezing. Interferometers employing internal and external cavities decohere and degrade squeezing in complex new ways, which must be studied to achieve increasingly ambitious noise goals. This paper introduces an audio diagnostic field (ADF) to quickly and accurately characterize the frequency-dependent response and the transient perturbations of resonant optical systems to squeezed states. This analysis enables audio field injections to become a powerful tool to witness and optimize interactions such as inter-cavity mode matching within gravitational-wave instruments. To demonstrate, we present experimental results from using the audio field to characterize a 16 m prototype filter cavity.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Demonstration of an amplitude filter cavity at gravitational-wave frequencies

Quantum vacuum fluctuations fundamentally limit the precision of optical measurements, such as those in gravitational-wave detectors. Injection of conventional squeezed vacuum can be used to reduce quantum noise in the readout quadrature, but this reduction is at the cost of increasing noise in the orthogonal quadrature. For detectors near the limits imposed by quantum radiation pressure noise (QRPN), both quadratures impact the measurement, and the benefits of conventional squeezing are limited. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of a critically-coupled 16m optical cavity to diminish anti-squeezing at frequencies below 90Hz where it exacerbates QRPN, while preserving beneficial squeezing at higher frequencies. This is called an amplitude filter cavity, and it is useful for avoiding degradation of detector sensitivity at low frequencies. The attenuation from the cavity also provides technical advantages such as mitigating backscatter.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Optimal detuning for quantum filter cavities

Vacuum quantum fluctuations impose a fundamental limit on the sensitivity of gravitational-wave interferometers, which rank among the most sensitive precision measurement devices ever built. The injection of conventional squeezed vacuum reduces quantum noise in one quadrature at the expense of increasing noise in the other. While this approach improved the sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo interferometers during their third observing run (O3), future improvements in arm power and squeezing levels will bring radiation pressure noise to the forefront. Installation of a filter cavity for frequency-dependent squeezing provides broadband reduction of quantum noise through the mitigation of this radiation pressure noise, and it is the baseline approach planned for all of the future gravitational-wave detectors currently conceived. The design and operation of a filter cavity requires careful consideration of interferometer optomechanics as well as squeezing degradation processes. In this paper, we perform an in-depth analysis to determine the optimal operating point of a filter cavity. We use our model alongside numerical tools to study the implications for filter cavities to be installed in the upcoming "A+" upgrade of the Advanced LIGO detectors.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Tuning Advanced LIGO to kilohertz signals from neutron-star collisions

Gravitational waves produced at kilohertz frequencies in the aftermath of a neutron star collision can shed light on the behavior of matter at extreme temperatures and densities that are inaccessible to laboratory experiments. Gravitational-wave interferometers are limited by quantum noise at these frequencies but can be tuned via their optical configuration to maximize the probability of post-merger signal detection. We compare two such tuning strategies to turn Advanced LIGO into a post-merger-focused instrument: first, a wideband tuning that enhances the instrument's signal-to-noise ratio 40--80\% broadly above \SI{1}{\kHz} relative to the baseline, with a modest sensitivity penalty at lower frequencies; second, a "detuned" configuration that provides even more enhancement than the wideband tuning, but over only a narrow frequency band and at the expense of substantially worse quantum noise performance elsewhere. With an optimistic accounting for instrument loss and uncertainty in post-merger parameters, the detuned instrument has a ${\lesssim}40\%$ sensitivity improvement compared to the wideband instrument.

astro-ph.IM↗