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In this paper, which is of programmatic rather than quantitative nature, we aim to further delineate and sharpen the future potential of the LISA mission in the area of fundamental physics. Given the very broad range of topics that might be relevant to LISA, we present here a sample of what we view as particularly promising directions, based in part on the current research interests of the LISA scientific community in the area of fundamental physics. We organize these directions through a "science-first" approach that allows us to classify how LISA data can inform theoretical physics in a variety of areas. For each of these theoretical physics classes, we identify the sources that are currently expected to provide the principal contribution to our knowledge, and the areas that need further development. The classification presented here should not be thought of as cast in stone, but rather as a fluid framework that is amenable to change with the flow of new insights in theoretical physics., Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure, to appear in General Relativity and Gravitation

Entanglement generation at a macroscopic scale offers an exciting avenue to develop new quantum technologies and study fundamental physics on a tabletop. Cavity quantum optomechanics provides an ideal platform to generate and exploit such phenomena owing to the precision of quantum optics combined with recent experimental advances in optomechanical devices. In this work, we propose schemes operating outside the resolved-sideband regime, to prepare and verify both optical-mechanical and mechanical-mechanical entanglement. Our schemes employ pulsed interactions with a duration much less than the mechanical period and, together with homodyne measurements, can both generate and characterize these types of entanglement. To improve the performance of our schemes, a precooling stage comprising prior pulses can be utilized to increase the amount of entanglement prepared, and local optical squeezers may be used to provide resilience against open-system dynamics. The entanglement generated by our schemes is quantified using the logarithmic negativity and is analysed with respect to the strength of the pulsed optomechanical interactions for realistic experimental scenarios including mechanical decoherence and optical loss. Two separate schemes for mechanical entanglement generation are introduced and compared: one scheme based on an optical interferometric design, and the other comprising sequential optomechanical interactions. The pulsed nature of our protocols provides more direct access to these quantum correlations in the time domain, with applications including quantum metrology and tests of quantum decoherence. By considering a parameter set based on recent experiments, the feasibility to generate significant entanglement with our schemes, even with large optical losses, is demonstrated., Comment: 9 figures, 2 tables

Direct detection of gravitational waves is opening a new window onto our universe. Here, we study the sensitivity to continuous-wave strain fields of a kg-scale optomechanical system formed by the acoustic motion of superfluid helium-4 parametrically coupled to a superconducting microwave cavity. This narrowband detection scheme can operate at very high $Q$-factors, while the resonant frequency is tunable through pressurization of the helium in the 0.1-1.5 kHz range. The detector can therefore be tuned to a variety of astrophysical sources and can remain sensitive to a particular source over a long period of time. For reasonable experimental parameters, we find that strain fields on the order of $h\sim 10^{-23} /\sqrt{\rm Hz}$ are detectable. We show that the proposed system can significantly improve the limits on gravitational wave strain from nearby pulsars within a few months of integration time.

Utilizing the tools of quantum optics to prepare and manipulate quantum states of motion of a mechanical resonator is currently one of the most promising routes to explore non-classicality at a macroscopic scale. An important quantum optomechanical tool yet to be experimentally demonstrated is the ability to perform complete quantum state reconstruction. Here, after providing a brief introduction to quantum states in phase space, we review and contrast the current proposals for state reconstruction of mechanical motional states and discuss experimental progress. Furthermore, we show that mechanical quadrature tomography using back-action-evading interactions gives an $s$-parameterized Wigner function where the numerical parameter $s$ is directly related to the optomechanical measurement strength. We also discuss the effects of classical noise in the optical probe for both state reconstruction and state preparation by measurement., Comment: Published in the Annalen der Physik special issue: Quantum and Hybrid Mechanical Systems edited by Harris, Rabl, and Schliesser (11 pages, 2 figures, close to published version)

Studying mechanical resonators via radiation pressure offers a rich avenue for the exploration of quantum mechanical behavior in a macroscopic regime. However, quantum state preparation and especially quantum state reconstruction of mechanical oscillators remains a significant challenge. Here we propose a scheme to realize quantum state tomography, squeezing and state purification of a mechanical resonator using short optical pulses. The scheme presented allows observation of mechanical quantum features despite preparation from a thermal state and is shown to be experimentally feasible using optical microcavities. Our framework thus provides a promising means to explore the quantum nature of massive mechanical oscillators and can be applied to other systems such as trapped ions., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

Micro-optomechanical systems are central to a number of recent proposals for realizing quantum mechanical effects in relatively massive systems. Here we focus on a particular class of experiments which aim to demonstrate massive quantum superpositions, although the obtained results should be generalizable to similar experiments. We analyze in detail the effects of finite temperature on the interpretation of the experiment, and obtain a lower bound on the degree of non-classicality of the cantilever. Although it is possible to measure the quantum decoherence time when starting from finite temperature, an unambiguous demonstration of a quantum superposition requires the mechanical resonator to be in or near the ground state. This can be achieved by optical cooling of the fundamental mode, which also provides a method to measure the mean phonon number in that mode. We also calculate the rate of environmentally induced decoherence and estimate the timescale for gravitational collapse mechanisms as proposed by Penrose and Diosi. In view of recent experimental advances, practical considerations for the realization of the described experiment are discussed., Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, published in New J. Phys. 10 095020 (2008); minor revisions to improve clarity; fixed possibly corrupted figures