Search

Full coherent control and generation of superpositions of the quantum harmonic oscillator are not only of fundamental interest but are crucial for applications in quantum simulations, quantum-enhanced metrology and continuous-variable quantum computation. The extension of such superpositions to nonclassical states increases their power as a resource for such applications. Here, we create arbitrary superpositions of nonclassical and non-Gaussian states of a quantum harmonic oscillator using the motion of a trapped ion coupled to its internal spin states. We interleave spin-dependent nonlinear bosonic interactions and mid-circuit measurements of the spin that preserve the coherence of the oscillator. These techniques enable the creation of superpositions between squeezed, trisqueezed, and quadsqueezed states, which have never been demonstrated before, with independent control over the complex-valued squeezing parameter and the probability amplitude of each constituent, as well as their spatial separation. We directly observe the nonclassical nature of these states in the form of Wigner negativity following a full state reconstruction. Our methods apply to any system where a quantum harmonic oscillator is coupled to a spin.

Quantum harmonic oscillators model a wide variety of phenomena ranging from electromagnetic fields to vibrations of atoms in molecules. Their excitations can be represented by bosons such as photons, single particles of light, or phonons, the quanta of vibrational energy. Linear interactions that only create and annihilate single bosons can generate coherent states of light or motion. Introducing nth-order nonlinear interactions, that instead involve n bosons, leads to increasingly complex quantum behaviour. For example, second-order interactions enable squeezing, used to enhance the precision of measurements beyond classical limits, while higher-order interactions create non-Gaussian states essential for continuous-variable quantum computation. However, generating nonlinear interactions is challenging, typically requiring higher-order derivatives of the driving field or specialized hardware. Hybrid systems, where linear interactions couple an oscillator to an additional spin, offer a solution and are readily available across many platforms. Here, using the spin of a single trapped ion coupled to its motion, we employ two linear interactions to demonstrate up to fourth-order bosonic interactions; we focus on generalised squeezing interactions and demonstrate squeezing, trisqueezing, and quadsqueezing. We characterise these interactions, including their spin dependence, and reconstruct the Wigner function of the resulting states. We also discuss the scaling of the interaction strength, where we drive the quadsqueezing interaction more than 100 times faster than using conventional techniques. Our method presents no fundamental limit in the interaction order n and applies to any platform supporting spin-dependent linear interactions. Strong higher-order nonlinear interactions unlock the study of fundamental quantum optics, quantum simulation, and computation in a hitherto unexplored regime.

All laser-driven entangling operations for trapped-ion qubits have hitherto been performed without control of the optical phase of the light field, which precludes independent tuning of the carrier and motional coupling. By placing $^{88}$Sr$^+$ ions in a $\lambda=674$ nm standing wave, whose relative position is controlled to $\approx\lambda/100$, we suppress the carrier coupling by a factor of $18$, while coherently enhancing the spin-motion coupling. We experimentally demonstrate that the off-resonant carrier coupling imposes a speed limit for conventional traveling-wave M{\o}lmer-S{\o}rensen gates; we use the standing wave to surpass this limit and achieve a gate duration of $15\ \mu$s, restricted by the available laser power., Comment: S. Saner and O. B\u{a}z\u{a}van contributed equally to this work

Psychologists have long known that an expert in a field not only knows significantly more individual facts/skills than a novice but also has these facts/skills organized into a mental hierarchy that links the individual facts (at the bottom of the hierarchy) together with larger more-encompassing ideas (at the top of the hierarchy). In the Spring quarter of 2012, UC Davis offered 4 sections (about 180 students each) of the first quarter of introductory physics, Physics 9A, covering Newtonian mechanics. One of these sections is a "treatment" group and had the entire 10-week quarter's set of ideas introduced, largely qualitatively, in the first 6 weeks followed by the 4 weeks where students learn to use those ideas to solve the algebraically complicated problems that physicists prize. The other three sections were organized as usual. The treatment group and one of the other sections were taught by the author and were identical (same homework, discussion, lecture, and lab) except for the organization of the content. After controlling for GPA as well as Force Concept Inventory pretest scores, the treatment group was found, with better than 99% confidence, to score higher on the final exam. Some curricular details of the treatment class are discussed in this paper.

Four sections of introductory physics for physical scientists and engineers (about 180 students each) are compared. One section, treatment group, was organized so that students worked to learn the classical ideas connecting forces and motion over the first 6 weeks of the 10 week quarter and then used the final 4 weeks to apply those principles to algebraically complicated problems. The other sections learned ideas at essentially the same time as calculations over the entire 10 weeks of the quarter. The treatment group and one of the control sections were taught by the same instructor, had identical curricular materials and this instructor was blind to the comparison measure, the final exam. After controlling for GPA as well as for incoming conceptual understanding, the treatment group was found (with greater than 99% confidence) to perform better on the final exam than the control group taught by the same instructor and, by a similar measure, the treatment group performed significantly better than any other section. The treatment group also had higher conceptual learning gains and so should be better prepared for later learning.