The orthogonality of cat and displaced cat states, underlying Heisenberg limited measurement in quantum metrology, is studied in the limit of large number of states. The asymptotic expression for the corresponding state overlap function, controlled by the sub-Planck structures arising from phase space interference, is obtained exactly. For large number of coherent states, uniformly located on a circle, it identically matches with the diffraction pattern for a circular ring with uniform angular source strength. This is in accordence with the van Cittert-Zernike theorem, where the overlap function, similar to the mutual coherence function matches with a diffraction pattern. Interestingly, the convergence to asymptotic limit is quite rapid, reminiscent of the convergence of superposed incoherent sources.
The orthogonality of cat and displaced cat states, underlying Heisenberg limited measurement in quantum metrology, is studied in the limit of large number of states. The asymptotic expression for the corresponding state overlap function, controlled by the sub-Planck structures arising from phase space interference, is obtained exactly. The validity of large phase space support, in which context the asymptotic limit is achieved, is discussed in detail. For large number of coherent states, uniformly located on a circle, it identically matches with the diffraction pattern for a circular ring with…
The orthogonality of cat and displaced cat states, underlying Heisenberg limited measurement in quantum metrology, is studied in the limit of large number of states. The mesoscopic superposition of the generalized cat state is correlated with the corresponding state overlap function, controlled by the sub-Planck structures arising from phase space interference. The asymptotic expression of this overlap function is evaluated and the validity of large phase space support and distinguishability of the constituent states, in which context the asymptotic limit is achieved, are discussed in detail. …
We illustrate a procedure to generate a bipartite, entangled compass state, which shows sub-Planck structure. The proposed method uses the interaction of a standing wave laser field, with two, two-level atoms and relies on the ability of this system to choose certain mesoscopic bipartite states to couple with the internal degrees of freedom. An appropriate measurement on the internal degrees of freedom then leads to the entangled state, which shows sub-Planck structures, desired for quantum metrology.
We study the effect of decoherence on the sub-Planck scale structures of the vibrational wave packet of a molecule. The time evolution of these wave packets is investigated under the influence of a photonic or phononic environment. We determine the master equation describing the reduced dynamics of the wave-packet and analyze the sensitivity of the sub-Planck structures against decoherence in the case of a hydrogen iodide (HI) molecule.
We propose a method using the dispersive interaction between atoms and a high quality cavity to realize the mesoscopic superposition of coherent states which would exhibit sub-Planck structures in phase space. In particular we focus on a superposition involving four coherent states. We show interesting interferences in the conditional measurements involving two atoms.
We demonstrate the possibility of realizing sub-Planck-scale structures in the mesoscopic superposition of molecular wave packets involving vibrational levels. The time evolution of the wave packet, taken here as the SU(2) coherent state of the Morse potential describing hydrogen iodide molecules, produces macroscopicquantum- superposition-like states, responsible for the above phenomenon. We investigate the phase-space dynamics of the coherent state through the Wigner function approach and identify the interference phenomena behind the sub-Planck-scale structures. The optimal parameter ranges…
We study Wigner function of a system describing entanglement of two cat-states. Quantum interferece arising due to entanglement is shown to produce sub-Planck structures in the phase-space plots of the Wigner function. Origin of these structures in our case depends on entanglement unlike those in Zurek \cite{Zurek}. It is argued that the entangled cat-states are better suited for carrying out precision measurements.
Heisenberg's principle$^1$ states that the product of uncertainties of position and momentum should be no less than Planck's constant $\hbar$. This is usually taken to imply that phase space structures associated with sub-Planck ($\ll \hbar$) scales do not exist, or, at the very least, that they do not matter. I show that this deeply ingrained prejudice is false: Non-local "Schrödinger cat" states of quantum systems confined to phase space volume characterized by `the classical action' $A \gg \hbar$ develop spotty structure on scales corresponding to sub-Planck $a = \hbar^2 / A \ll \hbar$. Suc…
We investigate the sub-Planck-scale structures associated with the SU(1,1) group by establishing that the Planck scale on the hyperbolic plane can be considered as the inverse of the Bargmann index $k$. Our discussion involves SU(1,1) versions of Wigner functions, and the quantum-interference effect is easily visualized through plots of these Wigner functions. Specifically, the superpositions of four Perelomov SU(1,1) coherent states (compass state) yield nearly isotropic sub-Planck structures in phase space scaling as $\frac1{k}$ compared with $\frac1{\sqrt{k}}$ scaling for individual SU(1,1)…
The persistence of sub-Planck structure in phase space with loss of coherence is demonstrated in a mixed state, which comprises two terms in the density matrix. Its utility in carrying out Heisenberg-limited measurement and quantum parameter estimation have been shown. It is also shown that the mixed state performs equally well as the compass state for carrying out precision measurements. The advantage of using mixed state relies on the fact that such a state can be easier to prepare and may appear from pure states after partial loss of coherence. We explicate the effect of environment on thes…
We investigate the connection between sub-Planck structure in the Wigner function and the output fidelity of continuous-variable teleportation protocols. When the teleporting parties share a two-mode squeezed state as an entangled resource, high fidelity in the output state requires a squeezing large enough that the smallest sub-Planck structures in an input pure state are teleported faithfully. We formulate this relationship, which leads to an explicit relation between the fine-scale structure in the Wigner function and large-scale extent of the Wigner function, and we treat specific examples…
We find the existence of sub-Planck scale structures in the P{ö}schl-Teller potential, which is an exactly solvable potential with both symmetric and asymmetric features. We analyze these structures in both cases by looking at the Wigner distribution of the state evolved from an initial coherent state up to various fractional revival times. We also investigate the sensitivity to perturbations of the P{ö}schl-Teller potential and we verify that, similar to the harmonic oscillator, the presence of sub-Planck structure in phase space is responsible for a high sensitivity to phase-space displaceme…
We show how sub-Planck phase-space structures in the Wigner function can be used to achieve Heisenberg-limited sensitivity in weak force measurements. Nonclassical states of harmonic oscillators, consisting of superpositions of coherent states, are shown to be useful for the measurement of weak forces that cause translations or rotations in phase space, which is done by entangling the quantum oscillator with a two-level system. Implementations of this strategy in cavity QED and ion traps are described.
The time evolution of a particle, caught in an infinitely deep square well, displays unexpected features, when one includes tiny relativistic effects. Indeed, even the smallest corrections to the non-relativistic quadratic spectrum manifest themselves in a dramatic way. Our theoretical analysis brings to light a completely new time scale, at which the system exhibits surprisingly perfect revivals. This longer time scale rules the system dynamics and replaces the original revival time of the unperturbed system. The early manifestation of such phenomenon is captured by the sensitivity of sub-Pla…
We propose a super-resolution quantum lithography scheme based on coherent population trapping in lambda-type atoms coupled to temporally-cascaded standing-wave driving fields. By realizing effective multiplication of optical intensity profiles on an atomic state density distribution, the scheme enables an arbitrarily high degree of resolution enhancement without modifying the atomic level structure of the photographic medium or the light source configuration. It is also shown that the visibility of the super-resolution patterns is preserved under a significant atomic state decoherence rate.
We study the possibility of creating spatial patterns having subwavelength size by using the so-called dark states formed by the interaction between atoms and optical fields. These optical fields have a specified spatial distribution. Our experiments in Rb vapor display spatial patterns that are smaller than the length determined by the diffraction limit of the optical system used in the experiment. This approach may have applications to interference lithography and might be used in coherent Raman spectroscopy to create patterns with subwavelength spatial resolution.
In 2001, Zurek derived the generic minimum scale $a_{Z}$ for the area of structures of Wigner's quantum phase distribution. Here we show by construction, using superoscillatory functions, that the Wigner distribution can locally show regular spotty structures on scales much below Zurek's scale $a_{Z}$. The price to pay for the presence of such structures is their exponential smallness. For the case we construct there is no increased interferometric sensitivity from the presence of patches with superoscillatory structure in phase-space.
Heisenberg-limited and weak measurements are the two intriguing notions, used in recent times for enhancing the sensitivity of measurements in quantum metrology. Using a quantum cat state, endowed with sub-Planck structure, we connect these two novel concepts. It is demonstrated that these two phenomena manifest in complementary regimes, depending upon the degree of overlap between the mesoscopic states constituting the cat state under consideration. In particular, we find that when sub-Planck structure manifests, the imaginary weak value is obscured and vice-versa.
We present experimental data of the frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) measurements of light pulses revealing interference features corresponding to sub-Planck structures in phase space. For superpositions of pulses a small, sub-Fourier shift in the carrier frequency leads to a state orthogonal to the initial one, although in the representation of standard time-frequency distributions these states seem to have a nonvanishing overlap.
As a potential candidate for quantum computation and metrology, the nitrogen vacancy (NV)center in diamond presented both challenges and opportunities resulted from charge state conversion. By utilizing different lasers for the photon-induced charge state conversion, we achieved the sub-diffraction charge state manipulation. The charge state depletion (CSD) microscopy resolution was improved to 4.1 nm by optimizing the laser pulse sequences. Subsequently, the electron spin state dynamics of adjacent NV centers were selectively detected via the CSD. The experimental results demonstrated that th…
Exploiting the correspondence between Wigner distribution function and a frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) measurement, we experimentally demonstrate existence of the chessboard-like interference patterns with a time-bandwidth product smaller than that of a transform-limited pulse in the phase space representation of compass states. Using superpositions of four electric pulses as realization of compass states, we have shown via direct measurements that displacements leading to orthogonal states can be smaller than limits set by uncertainty relations. In the experiment we observe an exac…
Quantum states extended over a large volume in phase space have oscillations from quantum interferences in their Wigner distribution on scales smaller than $\hbar$ [W.H. Zurek, Nature {\bf 412}, 712 (2001)]. We investigate the influence of those sub-Planck scale structures on the sensitivity to an external perturbation of the state's time evolution. While we do find an accelerated decay of the Loschmidt Echo for an extended state in comparison to a localized wavepacket, the acceleration is described entirely by the classical Lyapunov exponent and hence cannot originate from quantum interferenc…
We investigate the superposition of four different quantum states based on the $q$-oscillator. These quantum states are expressed by means of Rogers-Szegö polynomials. We show that such a superposition has the properties of the quantum harmonic oscillator when $q\to 1$, and those of a compass state with the appearance of chessboard-type interference patterns when $q \to 0$.
