发表机构
The Johns Hopkins University（约翰斯·霍普金斯大学）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。AI 中文总结
本文提出利用嵌入稀土离子的微粒进行物质波干涉，通过光学跃迁传递动量并采用时间对称几何消除初始条件敏感性，从而避免退相干，为量子传感和引力测试提供新平台。
AI 中文摘要
物质波干涉仪是低能物理的灵敏探针，已被用于重力和量子力学的精确测试。这些应用将受益于干涉更高质量的粒子，但由于需要控制其初始状态并避免退相干，观察大粒子的干涉具有挑战性。在此，我们提出演示一个嵌入稀土离子的微粒的物质波干涉。稀土离子的光学跃迁将动量传递给微粒的质心。使用时间对称的干涉仪几何结构和角动量 $J = 1/2$ 的稀土离子态将消除对微粒初始条件的敏感性。我们表明，所有相关外部退相干机制的速率随着微粒质量的增加而降低或保持不变，从而可以通过使用足够大的粒子来避免退相干。在中等真空水平的装置将支持每个分束器最多 $10^3$ 个光子且相干时间为毫秒级的微粒干涉测量。这一演示将确立微粒干涉测量作为量子传感的新平台，在近期内将量子力学最小修改的搜索改进多达四个数量级，并为未来的引力测试奠定基础。
英文摘要
Matter-wave interferometers are sensitive probes of low energy physics and have been used for precise tests of gravity and quantum mechanics. These applications would benefit from interfering particles of higher mass, but observing the interference of a large particle is challenging due to the need to control its initial state and to avoid decoherence. Here we propose to demonstrate matter-wave interference of a microparticle with an embedded rare-earth ion. Optical transitions of the rare-earth ion will impart momentum to the microparticle's center of mass. The use of a time-symmetric interferometer geometry and a rare-earth ion state with angular momentum $J = 1/2$ will eliminate sensitivity to the initial conditions of the microparticle. We show that the rates of all relevant external decoherence mechanisms either decrease or remain constant as the microparticle mass is increased, allowing decoherence to be avoided by using sufficiently large particles. An apparatus at moderate vacuum levels will support microparticle interferometry with up to $10^3$ photons per beam splitter and millisecond coherence time. This demonstration will establish microparticle interferometry as a new platform for quantum sensing, improving searches for minimal modifications of quantum mechanics by up to three orders of magnitude in the near term and laying the foundation for future gravitational tests.
Comments10 pages, 4 figures
