TY - JOUR
T1 - Dissipative Optomechanical Preparation of Macroscopic Quantum Superposition States
AU - Abdi, Mehdi
AU - Degenfeld-Schonburg, Peter
AU - Sameti, Mahdi
AU - Navarrete-Benlloch, Carlos
AU - Hartmann, Michael J
PY - 2016/6/10
Y1 - 2016/6/10
N2 - The transition from quantum to classical physics remains an intensely debated question even though it has been investigated for more than a century. Further clarifications could be obtained by preparing macroscopic objects in spatial quantum superpositions and proposals for generating such states for nanomechanical devices either in a transient or a probabilistic fashion have been put forward. Here, we introduce a method to deterministically obtain spatial superpositions of arbitrary lifetime via dissipative state preparation. In our approach, we engineer a double-well potential for the motion of the mechanical element and drive it towards the ground state, which shows the desired spatial superposition, via optomechanical sideband cooling. We propose a specific implementation based on a superconducting circuit coupled to the mechanical motion of a lithium-decorated monolayer graphene sheet, introduce a method to verify the mechanical state by coupling it to a superconducting qubit, and discuss its prospects for testing collapse models for the quantum to classical transition.
AB - The transition from quantum to classical physics remains an intensely debated question even though it has been investigated for more than a century. Further clarifications could be obtained by preparing macroscopic objects in spatial quantum superpositions and proposals for generating such states for nanomechanical devices either in a transient or a probabilistic fashion have been put forward. Here, we introduce a method to deterministically obtain spatial superpositions of arbitrary lifetime via dissipative state preparation. In our approach, we engineer a double-well potential for the motion of the mechanical element and drive it towards the ground state, which shows the desired spatial superposition, via optomechanical sideband cooling. We propose a specific implementation based on a superconducting circuit coupled to the mechanical motion of a lithium-decorated monolayer graphene sheet, introduce a method to verify the mechanical state by coupling it to a superconducting qubit, and discuss its prospects for testing collapse models for the quantum to classical transition.
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.233604
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.233604
M3 - Letter
C2 - 27341233
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 116
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
IS - 23
M1 - 233604
ER -