Increasing the Precision of Current Time and Frequency Measurements
by Mike Duncan
Visionary Presentation:
James Thompson, JILA, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA
Breaking Quantum and Thermal Limits: Things we can do with many quantum objects that we cannot do with just one
James Thompson from JILA, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, gave a visionary talk on the future of using the quantum nature of ensembles of atoms to move to the next stage of precision metrology.
He gave a short re-cap of how cold atoms and their quantum states have been used to give us our current precision clocks, as well as talking about the limitations of using single atoms and standard laser cavities for reaching further levels of precision. He then described how using a laser-cooled ensemble of rubidium atoms prepared in an entangled state could allow their phase noise to be reduced by over 50 times, well below the normal quantum limit for single atoms.
In addition, he described how using an ensemble of strontium atoms drastically reduces the noise in a precision laser cavity and can lead to extremely narrow linewidths. Early results in his laboratory point to the potential of using this technique to increase the precision of current time and frequency measurements by a factor of 100.
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Posted: 20 Sep 2017 by Mike Duncan