Nearly a century after Einstein first predicted the existence of gravitational waves, a global network of Earth-based gravitational wave observatories1, 2, 3, 4 is seeking to directly detect this faint radiation using precision laser interferometry. Photon shot noise, due to the quantum nature of light, imposes a fundamental limit on the attometre-level sensitivity of the kilometre-scale Michelson interferometers deployed for this task. Here, we inject squeezed states to improve the performance of one of the detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) beyond the quantum noise limit, most notably in the frequency region down to 150 Hz, critically important for several astrophysical sources, with no deterioration of performance observed at any frequency. With the injection of squeezed states, this LIGO detector demonstrated the best broadband sensitivity to gravitational waves ever achieved, with important implications for observing the gravitational-wave Universe with unprecedented sensitivity.

Enhanced sensitivity of the LIGO gravitational wave detector by using squeezed states of light

Spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) has been a key enabling technology in exploring quantum phenomena and their applications for decades. For instance, traditional SPDC, which splits a high energy pump photon into two lower energy photons, is a common way to produce entangled photon pairs. Since the early realizations of SPDC, researchers have thought to generalize it to higher order, e.g., to produce entangled photon triplets. However, directly generating photon triplets through a single SPDC process has remained elusive. Here, using a flux-pumped superconducting parametric cavity, we demonstrate direct three-photon SPDC, with photon triplets generated in a single cavity mode or split between multiple modes. With strong pumping, the states can be quite bright, with flux densities exceeding 60 photon/s/Hz. The observed states are strongly non-Gaussian, which has important implications for potential applications. In the single-mode case, we observe a triangular star-shaped distribution of quadrature voltages, indicative of the long-predicted "star state". The observed star state shows strong third-order correlations, as expected for a state generated by a cubic Hamiltonian. By pumping at the sum frequency of multiple modes, we observe strong three-body correlations between multiple modes, strikingly, in the absence of second-order correlations. We further analyze the third-order correlations under mode transformations by the symplectic symmetry group, showing that the observed transformation properties serve to "fingerprint" the specific cubic Hamiltonian that generates them. The observed non-Gaussian, third-order correlations represent an important step forward in quantum optics and may have a strong impact on quantum communication with microwave fields as well as continuous-variable quantum computation.

Observation of Three-Photon Spontaneous Parametric Downconversion in a Superconducting Parametric Cavity

(1979). Gradient Index Optics. Optica Acta: International Journal of Optics: Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 426-427.

Gradient Index Optics

The zeros of the eigenfunctions of self-adjoint Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problems interlace. For these problems interlacing is crucial for completeness. For the complex Sturm-Liouville problem associated with the Schrodinger equation for a non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonian, completeness and interlacing of zeros have never been examined. This paper reports a numerical study of the Sturm-Liouville problems for three complex potentials, the large-N limit of a -(ix)^N potential, a quasi-exactly-solvable -x^4 potential, and an ix^3 potential. In all cases the complex zeros of the eigenfunctions exhibit a similar pattern of interlacing and it is conjectured that this pattern is universal. Understanding this pattern could provide insight into whether the eigenfunctions of complex Sturm-Liouville problems form a complete set.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/math-ph/0005012.pdf

Conjecture on the Interlacing of Zeros in Complex Sturm-Liouville Problems

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) has been a key enabling technology in exploring quantum phenomena and their applications for decades. For instance, traditional SPDC, which splits a high-energy pump photon into two lower-energy photons, is a common way to produce entangled photon pairs. Since the early realizations of SPDC, researchers have thought to generalize it to higher order, e.g., to produce entangled photon triplets. However, directly generating photon triplets through a single SPDC process has remained elusive. Here, using a flux-pumped superconducting parametric cavity, we demonstrate direct three-photon SPDC, with photon triplets generated in a single cavity mode or split between multiple modes. With strong pumping, the states can be quite bright, with flux densities exceeding 60 photons per second per hertz. The observed states are strongly non-Gaussian, which has important implications for potential applications. In the single-mode case, we observe a triangular star-shaped distribution of quadrature voltages, indicative of the long-predicted "star state." The observed state shows strong third-order correlations, as expected for a state generated by a cubic Hamiltonian. By pumping at the sum frequency of multiple modes, we observe strong three-body correlations between multiple modes, strikingly, in the absence of second-order correlations. We further analyze the third-order correlations under mode transformations by the symplectic symmetry group, showing that the observed transformation properties serve to "fingerprint" the specific cubic Hamiltonian that generates them. The observed non-Gaussian, third-order correlations represent an important step forward in quantum optics and may have a strong impact on quantum communication with microwave fields as well as continuous-variable quantum computation.

/pdf/observation-of-three-photon-spontaneous-parametric-down-3bwf9c63y4.pdf

Observation of Three-Photon Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion in a Superconducting Parametric Cavity

Bi-orthogonal approach to non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with the oscillator spectrum: Generalized coherent states for nonlinear algebras

Generalized squeezed states

/pdf/interplay-between-riccati-ermakov-and-schrodinger-equations-3ayjwuh8xt.pdf

Interplay between Riccati, Ermakov, and Schrödinger equations to produce complex-valued potentials with real energy spectrum

We consider the relations between nonstationary quantum oscillators and their stationary counterpart in view of their applicability to study particles in electromagnetic traps. We develop a consistent model of quantum oscillators with time-dependent frequencies that are subjected to the action of a time-dependent driving force, and have a time-dependent zero point energy. Our approach uses the method of point transformations to construct the physical solutions of the parametric oscillator as mere deformations of the well known solutions of the stationary oscillator. In this form, the determination of the quantum integrals of motion is automatically achieved as a natural consequence of the transformation, without necessity of any ansatz. It yields the mechanism to construct an orthonormal basis for the nonstationary oscillators, so arbitrary superpositions of orthogonal states are available to obtain the corresponding coherent states. We also show that the dynamical algebra of the parametric oscillator is immediately obtained as a deformation of the algebra generated by the conventional boson ladder operators. A number of explicit examples is provided to show the applicability of our approach.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1402-4896/ab5cbf/pdf

Quantum nonstationary oscillators: Invariants, dynamical algebras and coherent states via point transformations

Nonlinear Riccati and Ermakov equations are combined to pair the energy spectrum of two different quantum systems via the Darboux method. One of the systems is assumed Hermitian, exactly solvable, with discrete energies in its spectrum. The other system is characterized by a complex-valued potential that inherits all the energies of the former one, and includes an additional real eigenvalue in its discrete spectrum. If such eigenvalue coincides with any discrete energy (or it is located between two discrete energies) of the initial system, its presence produces no singularities in the complex-valued potential. Non-Hermitian systems with spectrum that includes all the energies of either Morse or trigonometric Poeschl-Teller potentials are introduced as concrete examples.

/pdf/interplay-between-riccati-ermakov-and-schroedinger-equations-538nol7x8b.pdf

Kevin Zelaya

Papers

Bi-orthogonal approach to non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with the oscillator spectrum: Generalized coherent states for nonlinear algebras

Generalized squeezed states

Interplay between Riccati, Ermakov, and Schrödinger equations to produce complex-valued potentials with real energy spectrum

Quantum nonstationary oscillators: Invariants, dynamical algebras and coherent states via point transformations

Interplay between Riccati, Ermakov and Schroedinger equations to produce complex-valued potentials with real energy spectrum