arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M. K. Olsen.
We show that the intracavity Kerr nonlinear coupler is a potential source of bright continuous variable entangled light beams which are tunable and spatially separated. This system may be realised with integrated optics and thus provides a potentially rugged and stable source of bright entangled beams.
We compare theoretically the tripartite entanglement available from the use of three concurrent $χ^{(2)}$ nonlinearities and three independent squeezed states mixed on beamsplitters, using the van Loock-Furusawa inequalities. We also define three-mode generalisations of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox which are an alternative for demonstrating the inseparability of the density matrix.
In a recent experiment Campbell et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 020406 (2006)] observed degenerate four-wave mixing of matter-waves in a one-dimensional optical lattice, a process with potential for generating entanglement among atoms. We analyse the essential quantum features of the experiment to show that entanglement is created between the quadratures of the two scattered atomic clouds and is a true many-body (rather than two-body) effect. We demonstrate a significant violation of entanglement inequalities that is robust to a moderate level of coherent seeding. The system is thus a promising candididate for generating macroscopically entangled atomic samples.
We introduce a scheme for creating continuous variable entanglement between an atomic beam and an optical field, by using squeezed light to outcouple atoms from a BEC via a Raman transition. We model the full multimode dynamics of the atom laser beam and the squeezed optical field, and show that with appropriate two-photon detuning and two-photon Rabi frequency, the transmitted light is entangled in amplitude and phase with the outcoupled atom laser beam. The degree of entanglement is controllable via changes in the two-photon Rabi frequency of the outcoupling process.
Recent experimental measurements of atomic intensity correlations through atom shot noise suggest that atomic quadrature phase correlations may soon be measured with a similar precision. We propose a test of local realism with mesoscopic numbers of massive particles based on such measurements. Using dissociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of diatomic molecules into bosonic atoms, we demonstrate that strongly entangled atomic beams may be produced which possess Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlations in field quadratures, in direct analogy to the position and momentum correlations originally considered by EPR.
This paper has been withdrawn since it was an inadvertant double submission. An updated version of the original submission can be found at quant-ph/0505131
We show that a novel optical parametric oscillator, based on concurrent $χ^{(2)}$ nonlinearities, can produce, above threshold, bright output beams of macroscopic intensities which exhibit strong tripartite continuous-variable entanglement. We also show that there are {\em two} ways that the system can exhibit a new three-mode form of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, and calculate the extra-cavity fluctuation spectra that may be measured to verify our predictions.
In this paper we study the nondegenerate optical parametric oscillator with injected signal, both analytically and numerically. We develop a perturbation approach which allows us to find approximate analytical solutions, starting from the full equations of motion in the positive P-representation. We demonstrate the regimes of validity of our approximations via comparison with the full stochastic results. We and that, with reasonably low levels of injected signal, the system allows for demonstrations of quantum entanglement and the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. In contrast to the normal optical parametric oscillator operating below threshold, these features are demonstrated with relatively intense felds.
We present phase-space techniques for the modelling of spontaneous emission in two-level bosonic atoms. The positive-P representation is shown to give a full and complete description and can be further developed to give exact treatments of the interaction of degenerate bosons with the electromagnetic field in a given experimental situation. The Wigner representation, even when truncated at second order, is shown to need a doubling of the phase-space to allow for a positive-definite diffusion matrix in the appropriate Fokker-Planck equation and still fails to agree with the full quantum results of the positive-P representation. We show that quantum statistics and correlations between the ground and excited states affect the dynamics of the emission process, so that it is in general non-exponential.
We show that two evanescently coupled $χ^{(2)}$ parametric downconverters inside a Fabry-Perot cavity provide a tunable source of quadrature squeezed light, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations and quantum entanglement. Analysing the operation in the below threshold regime, we show how these properties can be controlled by adjusting the coupling strengths and the cavity detunings. As this can be implemented with integrated optics, it provides a possible route to rugged and stable EPR sources.
We perform a quantum mechanical analysis of the pendular cavity, using the positive-P representation, showing that the quantum state of the moving mirror, a macroscopic object, has noticeable effects on the dynamics. This system has previously been proposed as a candidate for the quantum-limited measurement of small displacements of the mirror due to radiation pressure, for the production of states with entanglement between the mirror and the field, and even for superposition states of the mirror. However, when we treat the oscillating mirror quantum mechanically, we find that it always oscillates, has no stationary steady-state, and exhibits uncertainties in position and momentum which are typically larger than the mean values. This means that previous linearised fluctuation analyses which have been used to predict these highly quantum states are of limited use. We find that the achievable accuracy in measurement is far worse than the standard quantum limit due to thermal noise, which, for typical experimental parameters, is overwhelming even at 2 mK.
We study the occupation numbers and number fluctuations of ultra-cold atoms in deep optical lattices for finite temperatures within the Bose-Hubbard model. Simple analytical expressions for the mean occupation number and number fluctuations are obtained in the weak-hopping regime using an interpolation between results from different perturbation approaches in the Mott-insulator and superfluid phases. These analytical results are compared to exact one dimensional numerical calculations using a finite temperature variant of the Density-Matrix Renormalisation Group (DMRG) method and found to have a high degree of accuracy. We also find very good agreement in the crossover ``thermal'' region. With the present approach the magnitude of number fluctuations under realistic experimental conditions can be estimated and the properties of the finite temperature phase diagram can be studied.
We demonstrate a method which allows the stochastic modelling of quantum systems for which the generalised Fokker-Planck equation in the phase space contains derivatives of higher than second order. This generalises quantum stochastics far beyond the quantum-optical paradigm of three and four-wave mixing problems to which these techniques have so far only been applicable. To verify our method, we model a full Wigner representation for the optical parametric oscillator, a system where the correct results are well known and can be obtained by other methods.
We describe quantum-field-theoretical (QFT) techniques for mapping quantum problems onto c-number stochastic problems. This approach yields results which are identical to phase-space techniques [C.W. Gardiner, {\em Quantum Noise} (1991)] when the latter result in a Fokker-Planck equation for a corresponding pseudo-probability distribution. If phase-space techniques do not result in a Fokker-Planck equation and hence fail to produce a stochastic representation, the QFT techniques nevertheless yield stochastic difference equations in discretised time.
We introduce the study of dynamical quantum noise in Bose-Einstein condensates through numerical simulation of stochastic partial differential equations obtained using phase space representations. We derive evolution equations for a single trapped condensate in both the positive-$P$ and Wigner representations, and perform simulations to compare the predictions of the two methods. The positive-$P$ approach is found to be highly susceptible to the stability problems that have been observed in other strongly nonlinear, weakly damped systems. Using the Wigner representation, we examine the evolution of several quantities of interest using from a variety of choices of initial state for the condensate, and compare results to those for single-mode models.