arXiv subjects

Umang Mishra

Publications and source records attributed to Umang Mishra.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Taming a macroscopic free mass through continuous quantum measurement

The free particle is the most elementary dynamical system in quantum mechanics. Despite remarkable progress in quantum control of increasingly massive solid-state mechanical oscillators, the analogous control of the free-particle counterpart has remained elusive. Dissipation and environmental noise have prevented such control in the inherently low-frequency domain of free-particle dynamics---a regime of growing importance for quantum sensing and tests of fundamental physics. Here we realize a suspended 1-milligram rotor operating in the free-particle regime with exceptional environmental isolation. Combining this isolation with a low-noise measurement architecture, we directly resolve thermal fluctuations in the motion associated with a damping rate of only 7~nHz. Through continuous quantum measurement of the rotor, we localize its otherwise unconfined motion, obtaining conditional states with entropic temperatures as low as 140~nK as a quantitative measure of control in the free-particle regime. This is two orders of magnitude below temperatures previously achieved in tabletop optomechanical experiments. We demonstrate immediate utilities of the new operating regime, setting new constraints on modifications of quantum mechanics and benchmarking inferred entanglement-to-decoherence rate ratios nearly two orders of magnitude beyond the state of the art for tests of gravity at the quantum-classical interface.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Monitoring and active stabilization of laser injection locking using beam ellipticity

We unveil a powerful method for stabilization of laser injection locking based on sensing variations in the output beam ellipticity of an optically seeded laser. The effect arises due to an interference between the seeding beam and the injected laser output. We demonstrate the method for a commercial semiconductor laser without the need for any internal changes to the readily-operational injection locked laser system that was utilized. The method can also be used to increase the mode-hop free tuning range of lasers, and has the potential to fill a void in the low-noise laser industry.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

A zigzag optical cavity for sensing and controlling torsional motion

Precision sensing and manipulation of milligram-scale mechanical oscillators has attracted growing interest in the fields of table-top explorations of gravity and tests of quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales. Torsional oscillators present an opportunity in this regard due to their remarked isolation from environmental noise. For torsional motion, an effective employment of optical cavities to enhance optomechanical interactions -- as already established for linear oscillators -- so far faced certain challenges. Here, we propose a novel concept for sensing and manipulating torsional motion, where exclusively the torsional rotations of a pendulum are mapped onto the path length of a single two-mirror optical cavity. The concept inherently alleviates many limitations of previous approaches. A proof-of-principle experiment is conducted with a rigidly controlled pendulum to explore the sensing aspects of the concept and to identify practical limitations in a potential state-of-the art setup. Based on this work, we anticipate development of precision torque sensors with sensitivities below $10^{-19}~\mathrm{N\cdot m/\sqrt{Hz}}$ and with the motion of the pendulums dominated by quantum radiation pressure noise at sub-microwatts of incoming laser power. This work, therefore, paves the way to new horizons for experiments at the interface of quantum mechanics and gravity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Search for dark photons using a multilayer dielectric haloscope equipped with a single-photon avalanche diode

We report on the results of the search for dark photons with mass around 1.5$\,\rm eV/c^2$ using a multilayer dielectric haloscope equipped with an affordable and commercially available photosensor. The multilayer stack, which enables the conversion of dark photons (DP) to Standard Model photons, is made of 23 bilayers of alternating SiO$_2$ and Si$_3$N$_4$ thin films with linearly increasing thicknesses through the stack (a configuration known as a "chirped stack"). The thicknesses have been chosen according to an optimisation algorithm in order to maximise the DP-photon conversion in the energy region where the photosensor sensitivity peaks. This prototype experiment, baptised MuDHI (Multilayer Dielectric Haloscope Investigation) by the authors of this paper, has been designed, developed and run at the Astroparticle Laboratory of New York University Abu Dhabi, which marks the first time a dark matter experiment has been operated in the Middle East. No significant signal excess is observed, and the method of maximum log-likelihood is used to set exclusion limits at $90\%$ confidence level on the kinetic mixing coupling constant between dark photons and ordinary photons.

hep-ex↗