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In the last decade, remarkable advances in integrated photonic technologies have enabled table-top experiments and instrumentation to be scaled down to compact chips with significant reduction in size, weight, power consumption, and cost. Here, we demonstrate an integrated continuously tunable laser in a heterogeneous gallium arsenide-on-silicon nitride (GaAs-on-SiN) platform that emits in the far-red radiation spectrum near 780 nm, with 20 nm tuning range, <6 kHz intrinsic linewidth, and a >40 dB side-mode suppression ratio. The GaAs optical gain regions are heterogeneously integrated with low-loss SiN waveguides. The narrow linewidth lasing is achieved with an extended cavity consisting of a resonator-based Vernier mirror and a phase shifter. Utilizing synchronous tuning of the integrated heaters, we show mode-hop-free wavelength tuning over a range larger than 100 GHz (200 pm). To demonstrate the potential of the device, we investigate two illustrative applications: (i) the linear characterization of a silicon nitride microresonator designed for entangled-photon pair generation, and (ii) the absorption spectroscopy and locking to the D1 and D2 transition lines of 87-Rb. The performance of the proposed integrated laser holds promise for a broader spectrum of both classical and quantum applications in the visible range, encompassing communication, control, sensing, and computing.

Can quantum mechanical thermodynamic engines outperform their classical counterparts? To address one aspect of this question, we experimentally realize and characterize an isentropic thermodynamic engine that uses a Bose-condensed working fluid. In this engine, an interacting quantum degenerate gas of bosonic lithium is subjected to trap compression and relaxation strokes interleaved with strokes strengthening and weakening interparticle interactions. We observe a significant enhancement in efficiency and power when using a Bose-condensed working fluid, compared to the case of a non-degenerate thermal gas. We demonstrate reversibility, and measure power and efficiency as a function of engine parameters including compression ratio and cycle time. Results agree quantitatively with interacting finite temperature field-theoretic simulations that closely replicate the length and energy scales of the working fluid., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures

A particle in an Anderson-localized system, if launched in any direction, should on average return to its starting point and stay there. Despite the central role played by Anderson localization in the modern understanding of condensed matter, this "quantum boomerang" effect, an essential feature of the localized state, was only recently theoretically predicted and has not previously been observed. We report the experimental observation of the quantum boomerang effect. Using a degenerate gas and a phase-shifted pair of optical lattices, we probe the role of time reversal symmetry breaking, Floquet gauge, and initial state symmetry in supporting or disrupting the boomerang effect. Highlighting the key role of localization, we observe that as stochastic kicking destroys dynamical localization, the quantum boomerang effect also disappears. Measured dynamics are in agreement with analytical and numerical predictions. These results showcase a unique experimental probe of the underlying quantum nature of Anderson localized matter., Comment: 10 pages including appendices, 4 figures

Quantum interference can terminate energy growth in a continually kicked system, via a single-particle ergodicity-breaking mechanism known as dynamical localization. The effect of many-body interactions on dynamically localized states, while important to a fundamental understanding of quantum decoherence, has remained unexplored despite a quarter-century of experimental studies. We report the experimental realization of a tunably-interacting kicked quantum rotor ensemble using a Bose-Einstein condensate in a pulsed optical lattice. We observe signatures of a prethermal localized plateau, followed for interacting samples by interaction-induced anomalous diffusion with an exponent near one half. Echo-type time reversal experiments establish the role of interactions in destroying reversibility. These results quantitatively elucidate the dynamical transition to many-body quantum chaos, advance our understanding of quantum anomalous diffusion, and delimit some possibilities for protecting quantum information in interacting driven systems., Comment: 17 pages including supp info

We present a passive, resonant, single-frequency gyroscope design that utilises polarisation modes of an optical cavity to readout rotation and generate a laser frequency discriminant. This design is notable for its simplicity, requiring no modulation electronics or frequency counters. We extract both the cavity length signal and rotation signal from two co-propagating beams with orthogonal polarisations. This readout scheme can be applied to an optical cavity whose polarisation eigen-modes experience different phase shifts such as fibre rings; whispering gallery mode resonators; and folded free-space cavities. We apply this technique to the passive free-space gyroscope and achieve a bias stability of 0.03 degree/h and a sensitivity of $5 \times 10^{-8}$ rad/sqHz above 1 Hz, with a cavity of area 400 cm^2 and finesse of 10^4. Below 1 Hz the sensitivity of the gyroscope is limited by the backscattering in the optical cavity and beam jitter of the laser beam.