Quantum Enabled Probes of Open Quantum Systems

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

Quantum technologies are poised to make significant impact in many areas of science and technology with applications in national health, industry, and defense. These technologies harness the unique properties of quantum superposition and entanglement to achieve tasks in a more efficient manner or in ways that are fundamentally impossible without quantum technologies. One of the nearest-term applications of quantum technologies is in the realm of quantum sensors. This project focuses on developing new types of quantum sensors that are enabled by quantum entanglement; they achieve an advantage over more classical sensors that do not harness this powerful quantum property. The project applies these sensors in the domain of open quantum systems, which seeks to find ways to understand and harness dissipation in quantum technologies. In this way, the project aims to demonstrate new quantum sensors, while also advancing quantum technologies broadly. In addition, the project will train undergraduate and graduate students in quantum information and quantum sensing techniques. The project focuses on three key projects. The first project aims to leverage an entanglement-enabled probe to characterize memory’s role in quantum systems’ environments, investigating how entangled states can form an enhanced probe of the non-Markovianity of an environment. We plan to apply this probing technique to characterize a range of different decohering mechanisms in open quantum systems. The second project investigates new approaches to quantum-entanglement-enhanced metrology harnessing time reversal invariance. Here, we will utilize the entanglement between a probe and an ancilla to perform optimal sensing of unknown and fluctuating magnetic fields. The third project will investigate a transition between quantum and classical dynamics by manipulating a qubit array via quantum measurement. The project will advance the scale of quantum simulation efforts with superconducting qubits and continue to demonstrate how dissipation serves as a powerful resource for quantum simulation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.