On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10(-21). It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203,000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410(-180)(+160)  Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09(-0.04)(+0.03). In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36(-4)(+5)M⊙ and 29(-4)(+4)M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62(-4)(+4)M⊙, with 3.0(-0.5)(+0.5)M⊙c(2) radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.

/pdf/the-observation-of-gravitational-waves-from-a-binary-black-58srpupgg9.pdf

The Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

Squeezed states of the electromagnetic field have been generated by nondegenerate four-wave mixing due to Na atoms in an optical cavity. The optical noise in the cavity, comprised of primarily vacuum fluctuations and a small component of spontaneous emission from the pumped Na atoms, is amplified in one quadrature of the optical field and deamplified in the other quadrature. These quadrature components are measured with a balanced homodyne detector. The total noise level in the deamplified quadrature drops below the vacuum noise level.

Observation of squeezed states generated by four-wave mixing in an optical cavity

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

Multiple-post reentrant 3D lumped cavity modes have been realized to design the concept of a discrete Whispering Gallery and Fabry-Perot-like Modes for multimode microwave Quantum Electrodynamics experiments. Using the magnon spin-wave resonance of a submillimeter-sized Yttrium-Iron-Garnet sphere at millikelvin temperatures and a four-post cavity, we demonstrate the ultra-strong coupling regime between discrete Whispering Gallery Modes and a magnon resonance with a strength of 1.84 GHz. By increasing the number of posts to eight and arranging them in a D4 symmetry pattern, we expand the mode structure to that of a discrete Fabry-Perot cavity and modify the Free Spectral Range (FSR). We reach the superstrong coupling regime, where spin-photon coupling strength is larger than FSR, with coupling strength in the 1.1 to 1.5 GHz range.

/pdf/superstrong-coupling-of-a-microwave-cavity-to-yttrium-iron-4m5hz9oc8q.pdf

Superstrong coupling of a microwave cavity to yttrium iron garnet magnons

Light-induced rotation of absorbing microscopic particles by transfer of angular momentum from light to the material raises the possibility of optically driven micromachines. The phenomenon has been observed using elliptically polarized laser beams or beams with helical phase structure. But it is difficult to develop high power in such experiments because of overheating and unwanted axial forces, limiting the achievable rotation rates to a few hertz. This problem can in principle be overcome by using transparent particles, transferring angular momentum by a mechanism first observed by Beth in 1936, when he reported a tiny torque developed in a quartz waveplate due to the change in polarization of transmitted light. Here we show that an optical torque can be induced on microscopic birefringent particles of calcite held by optical tweezers. Depending on the polarization of the incident beam, the particles either become aligned with the plane of polarization (and thus can be rotated through specified angles) or spin with constant rotation frequency. Because these microscopic particles are transparent, they can be held in three-dimensional optical traps at very high power without heating. We have observed rotation rates in excess of 350 Hz.

/pdf/optical-alignment-and-spinning-of-laser-trapped-microscopic-157ofugn83.pdf

Optical alignment and spinning of laser-trapped microscopic particles

We report an experimental observation of a record-breaking ultrahigh rotation frequency about 6 GHz in an optically levitated nanoparticle system. We optically trap a nanoparticle in the gravity direction with a high numerical aperture (NA) objective lens, which shows significant advantages in compensating the influences of the scattering force and the photophoretic force on the trap, especially at intermediate pressure (about 100 Pa). This allows us to trap a nanoparticle from atmospheric to low pressure (10−3  Pa) without using feedback cooling. We measure a highest rotation frequency about 4.3 GHz of the trapped nanoparticle without feedback cooling and a 6 GHz rotation with feedback cooling, which is the fastest mechanical rotation ever reported to date. Our work provides useful guides for efficiently observing hyperfast rotation in the optical levitation system and may find various applications such as in ultra-sensitive torque detection, probing vacuum friction, and testing unconventional decoherence theories.

/pdf/6-ghz-hyperfast-rotation-of-an-optically-levitated-3s9axpoc0w.pdf

6 GHz hyperfast rotation of an optically levitated nanoparticle in vacuum

Studies of strong coupling between atoms and cavity field have been very active in the past 30 years 1 due to its importance in the fundamental understanding of quantum electrodynamics and potential applications in quantum computation and quantum information processing 2. In the traditional cavity-quantum electrodynamics C-QED, highfinesse microcavities are normally used to enhance the single-photon coupling strength g = 2 c 20VM , where c is the

Multi-normal-mode splitting of a cavity in the presence of atoms: A step towards the superstrong-coupling regime

We present the experimental measurement of a squeezed vacuum state by means of a bichromatic local oscillator (BLO). A pair of local oscillators at ±5 MHz around the central frequency ω(0) of the fundamental field with equal power are generated by three acousto-optic modulators and phase-locked technology and used as a BLO. The squeezed vacuum light is detected by a phase-sensitive balanced-homodyne detection with a BLO. The baseband signal around ω(0) combined with a broad squeezed field can be detected with the sensitivity below the shot-noise limit, in which the baseband signal is shifted to the vicinity of 5 MHz (the half of the BLO separation). This work has important applications in quantum state measurement and quantum information.

Measurement of the squeezed vacuum state by a bichromatic local oscillator.

We experimentally study a protocol of using the broadband high-frequency squeezed vacuum to detect the low-frequency signal. In this scheme, the lower sideband field of the squeezed light carries the low-frequency modulation signal, and the two strong coherent light fields are applied as the bichromatic local oscillator in the homodyne detection to measure the quantum entanglement of the upper and lower sideband for the broadband squeezed light. The power of one of the local oscillators for detecting the upper sideband can be adjusted to optimize the conditional variance in the low-frequency regime by subtracting the photocurrent of the upper sideband field of the squeezed light from that of the lower sideband field. By means of the quantum correlation of the upper and lower sideband for the broadband squeezed light, the low-frequency signal beyond the standard quantum limit is measured. This scheme is appropriate for enhancing the sensitivity of the low-frequency signal by the aid of the broad squeezed light, such as gravitational waves detection, and does not need to directly produce the low-frequency squeezing in an optical parametric process.

Enhanced detection of a low-frequency signal by using broad squeezed light and a bichromatic local oscillator

We investigate the dependence of the measured squeezing level on the local oscillator (LO) intensity noise The theoretical results indicate that it produces a large measurement error with the increase of the LO intensity noise, but the measurement error has immunity to the product P of the common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) with the LO intensity noise According to the investigation results and the LO intensity noise, we employ a detector with the CMRR of 67 dB to detect the quantum noise at audio frequencies, the product P of the CMRR with the LO intensity noise is 20 dB below the shot noise limit (SNL), which can induce the measurement error of 01 dB for 10 dB of squeezing Finally, the squeezing level measured at 152 kHz is 99 ± 02 dB The influence of the intensity noise of the LO, and the electronic noise of the detector is subtracted, the inferred squeezing level is approximately 102 ± 02 dB It is extremely important to quantify the requirements of the CMRR of the detector for measuring the squeezing at audio frequency and inferring the real squeezing level

Xudong Yu

Papers

6 GHz hyperfast rotation of an optically levitated nanoparticle in vacuum

Multi-normal-mode splitting of a cavity in the presence of atoms: A step towards the superstrong-coupling regime

Measurement of the squeezed vacuum state by a bichromatic local oscillator.

Enhanced detection of a low-frequency signal by using broad squeezed light and a bichromatic local oscillator

Dependence of measured audio-band squeezing level on local oscillator intensity noise.