Nanomechanical test of quantum linearity

Abstract

Spontaneous wavefunction collapse theories provide the possibility to resolve the measurement problem of quantum mechanics. However, the best experimental tests have been limited by thermal fluctuations and have operated at frequencies far below those conjectured to allow the physical origins of collapse to be identified. Here we propose to use high-frequency nanomechanical resonators to surpass these limitations. We consider a specific implementation that uses a quantum optomechanical system cooled to near its motional ground state. The scheme combines phonon counting with efficient mitigation of technical noise, including non-linear photon conversion and photon coincidence counting. It is capable of resolving the exquisitely small phonon fluxes required for a conclusive test of collapse models as well as potentially identifying their physical origin.

References in corpus (33)

• Strong dispersive coupling of a high finesse cavity to a micromechanical membrane
• Quantum Darwinism
• Single-photon Optomechanics
• Proposal for an Optomechanical Traveling Wave Phonon-Photon Translator
• Slowing and stopping light using an optomechanical crystal array
• Phonon counting and intensity interferometry of a nanomechanical resonator
• Gravitational Decoherence
• Resolving the energy levels of a nanomechanical oscillator
• Optomechanical sensing of spontaneous wave-function collapse
• Two-Dimensional Optomechanical Crystal Cavity with High Quantum Cooperativity
• Resolving Phonon Fock States in a Multimode Cavity with a Double-Slit Qubit
• Light-mediated cascaded locking of multiple nano-optomechanical oscillators
• Standard Quantum Limit for Probing Mechanical Energy Quantization
• Collapse models with non-white noises
• CSL Collapse Model Mapped with the Spontaneous Radiation
• An ultra-narrow line width levitated nano-oscillator for testing dissipative wavefunction collapse
• Testing collapse models with levitated nanoparticles: the detection challenge
• Breaking quantum linearity: constraints from human perception and cosmological implications
• Phonon number measurements using single photon opto-mechanics
• Collapse models with non-white noises II: particle-density coupled noises
• Dissipative extension of the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber model
• Neutron star heating constraints on wave-function collapse models
• Colored collapse models from the non-interferometric perspective
• Testing Continuous Spontaneous Localization with Fermi liquids
• Phonon Quantum Nondemolition Measurements in Nonlinearly Coupled Optomechanical Cavities
• Free spectral range electrical tuning of a high quality on-chip microcavity
• Quantum nondemolition measurement of mechanical motion quanta
• Multilayer test masses to enhance the collapse noise
• Unitary unravelling for the Dissipative Continuous Spontaneous Localization model: application to optomechanical experiments
• Collapse models: main properties and the state of art of the experimental tests
• Enhanced photon-phonon coupling via dimerization in one-dimensional optomechanical crystals
• Quantum enhanced estimation of diffusion
• Classical Channel Gravity in the Newtonian Limit

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Narrowing the parameter space of collapse models with ultracold layered force sensors
• Massive quantum systems as interfaces of quantum mechanics and gravity
• Nanomechanical Dissipation and Strain Engineering
• Observation of phonon trapping in the continuum with topological charges
• Optomechanical dark matter instrument for direct detection
• Detecting kHz gravitons from a neutron star merger with a multi-mode resonant mass detector
• Low-Dissipation Nanomechanical Devices from Monocrystalline Silicon Carbide
• Continuous optical-to-mechanical quantum state transfer in the unresolved sideband regime
• Testing spontaneous wavefunction collapse with quantum electromechanics
• Testing collapse models with Bose-Einstein-Condensate interferometry
• Quantum thermodynamics of Gross-Pitaevskii qubits
• Measurement-based preparation of non-Markovian and multimode mechanical states
• Gaussian quantum metrology in a dissipative environment
• The universe as a nonlinear quantum simulation: Large $n$ limit of the central spin model