Direct observation of sub-Poissonian number statistics in a degenerate bose gas

We report the direct observation of sub-Poissonian number fluctuation for a degenerate Bose gas confined in an optical trap. Reduction of number fluctuations below the Poissonian limit is observed for average numbers that range from 300 to 60 atoms.     

Sub-Poissonian fluctuations in a 1D Bose gas: from the quantum quasicondensate to the strongly interacting regime

We report on local, in situ measurements of atom number fluctuations in slices of a one-dimensional Bose gas on an atom chip setup. By using current modulation techniques to prevent cloud fragmentation, we are able to probe the crossover from weak to strong interactions. For weak interactions, fluctuations go continuously from super- to sub-Poissonian as the density is increased, which is a signature of the transition between the subregimes where the two-body correlation function is dominated, respectively, by thermal and quantum contributions. At stronger interactions, the super-Poissonian region disappears, and the fluctuations go directly from Poissonian to sub-Poissonian, as expected for a "fermionized" gas.     

Strong quantum spin correlations observed in atomic spin mixing

We have observed sub-Poissonian spin correlations generated by collisionally induced spin mixing in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate. We measure a quantum noise reduction of -7 dB (-10 dB corrected for detection noise) below the standard quantum limit for the corresponding coherent spin states. The spin fluctuations are detected as atom number differences in the spin states using fluorescent imaging that achieves a detection noise floor of 8 atoms per spin component for a probe time of 100 μs.     

Positive current correlations associated with super-Poissonian shot noise

We report on shot noise cross spectrum measurements in a beam splitter configuration. Electrons tunneling through potential barriers are incident on a beam splitter and scattered into two separate channels. Such a partition process introduces correlations between the fluctuations of the two currents. Our work has confirmed that the generally expected negative correlations resulted from sub-Poissonian electron sources. More interestingly, positive cross correlations associated with barriers exhibiting super-Poissonian shot noise have also been observed. We have found that both positive and negative correlations can be related to the noise properties of the electron source.     

Noise correlations in a Coulomb-blockaded quantum dot

We report measurements of current noise auto- and cross correlation in a tunable quantum dot with two or three leads. As the Coulomb blockade is lifted at finite source-drain bias, the autocorrelation evolves from super- to sub-Poissonian in the two-lead case, and the cross correlation evolves from positive to negative in the three-lead case, consistent with transport through multiple levels. Cross correlations in the three-lead dot are found to be proportional to the noise in excess of the Poissonian value in the limit of weak output tunneling.     

非线性光子晶体中原子辐射光场的非经典性质

讨论了非线性光子晶体微腔中二能级原子在相干场驱动下腔场的频谱特性及光子的统计性质.研究结果表明,当光子晶体的态密度很大时,如果腔场模与原子共振荧光Mollow峰的中心峰共振,则腔场的涨落压缩到量子散弹噪声之下,且与线性光子晶体微腔的情况相比其谱线峰值变大.当驱动场频率较大时光子服从亚Poisson分布,且非常接近Poisson分布. 关键词： 光子晶体 参量振荡 非弹性谱 二阶相关函数     

Sub-poissonian number differences in four-wave mixing of matter waves

We demonstrate sub-Poissonian number differences in four-wave mixing of Bose-Einstein condensates of metastable helium. The collision between two Bose-Einstein condensates produces a scattering halo populated by pairs of atoms of opposing velocities, which we divide into several symmetric zones. We show that the atom number difference for opposing zones has sub-Poissonian noise fluctuations, whereas that of nonopposing zones is well described by shot noise. The atom pairs produced in a dual number state are well adapted to sub-shot-noise interferometry and studies of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-type nonlocality tests.     

非线性光子晶体中原子辐射光场的非经典性质

讨论了非线性光子晶体微腔中二能级原子在相干场驱动下腔场的频谱特性及光子的统计性质.研究结果表明,当光子晶体的态密度很大时,如果腔场模与原子共振荧光Mollow峰的中心峰共振,则腔场的涨落压缩到量子散弹噪声之下,且与线性光子晶体微腔的情况相比其谱线峰值变大.当驱动场频率较大时光子服从亚Poisson分布,且非常接近Poisson分布.     

Direct measurement of the photon statistics of a triggered single photon source

We studied intensity fluctuations of a single photon source relying on the pulsed excitation of the fluorescence of a single molecule at room temperature. We directly measured the Mandel parameter Q(T) over 4 orders of magnitude of observation time scale T by recording every photocount. On time scale of a few excitation periods, sub-Poissonian statistics is clearly observed and the probablility of two-photons events is 10 times smaller than Poissonian pulses. On longer times, blinking in the fluorescence, due to the molecular triplet state, produces an excess of noise.     

Suppression of classic and quantum radiation pressure noise by electro-optic feedback

We present theoretical results that demonstrate a new technique that can be used to improve the sensitivity of thermal noise measurements: intracavity intensity stabilization. It is demonstrated that electro-optic feedback can be used to reduce intracavity intensity fluctuations, and the consequent radiation pressure fluctuations, by a factor of 2 below the quantum-noise limit. We show that this reduction is achievable in the presence of large classic intensity fluctuations in the incident laser beam. The benefits of this scheme are a consequence of the sub-Poissonian intensity statistics of the field inside a feedback loop and the quantum nondemolition nature of radiation pressure noise as a readout system for the intracavity intensity fluctuations.     

Optimal quantum estimation of loss in bosonic channels

We address the estimation of the loss parameter of a bosonic channel probed by Gaussian signals. We derive the ultimate quantum bound with precision and show that no improvement may be obtained by having access to the environmental degrees of freedom. We find that, for small losses, the variance of the optimal estimator is proportional to the loss parameter itself, a result that represents a qualitative improvement over the shot-noise limit. An observable based on the symmetric logarithmic derivative is obtained, which attains the ultimate bound and may be implemented using Gaussian operations and photon counting.     

Rate-equation approach to laser light statistics

Single-mode cavity laser light statistics is considered within the framework of rate equations. According to this approach, fluctuations are caused by jumps in active and detecting atoms. The algebra is simple, allowing analytical expressions for the intracavity Fano factor and the photocurrent spectral density to be obtained. Poissonian, quiet, and optical pumps are considered. The results are verified by comparison with Monte Carlo simulations. An essentially exhaustive investigation of sub-Poissonian light generation by classical laser schemes, two-mode lasers, and semiconductor lasers is proposed.     

Quantum limits in the measurement of very small displacements in optical images

We consider the problem of the measurement of very small displacements in the transverse plane of an optical image with a split photodetector. We show that the standard quantum limit for such a measurement, which is equal to the diffraction limit divided by the square root of the number of photons used in the measurement, cannot be overcome by use of ordinary single-mode squeezed light. We give the form of possible multimode nonclassical states of light, enabling us to enhance by orders of magnitude the resolution of such a measurement beyond the standard quantum limit.     

The interaction of an atom with a sub-Poissonian single field mode

The resonant interaction of a single atom with a single quantized field mode characterized by sub-Poissonian statistics is compared with its interaction with a coherent field mode. Two models are considered: the Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) and the Raman-coupled model (RCM). Quadrature squeezing variances and photon number uncertainties are evaluated. In the JCM, sub-Poissonian field statistics lead to longer collapse times and more complete revivals than Poissonian statistics. In the RCM, which is characterized by periodic collapses and revivals, the collapse time is longer for sub-Poissonian fields.This work was supported in part by the UK Science and Engineering Research Council.     

Gram-Charlier matched filter for Shack-Hartmann sensing at low light levels

A study has been made of a Gram-Charlier matched filter for Shack-Hartmann sensing of wave-front slopes. The method is based on modeling the point-spread function by an expansion in terms of Gauss-Hermite polynomials. We present results for several subapertureycoherence area sizes both with and without CCD read noise. A more accurate estimation of the local slopes can be achieved at low light levels in this way than with the standard first-moment estimator.     

A resolution measure for three-dimensional microscopy

A three-dimensional (3D) resolution measure for the conventional optical microscope is introduced which overcomes the drawbacks of the classical 3D (axial) resolution limit. Formulated within the context of a parameter estimation problem and based on the Cramer-Rao lower bound, this 3D resolution measure indicates the accuracy with which a given distance between two objects in 3D space can be determined from the acquired image. It predicts that, given enough photons from the objects of interest, arbitrarily small distances of separation can be estimated with prespecified accuracy. Using simulated images of point source pairs, we show that the maximum likelihood estimator is capable of attaining the accuracy predicted by the resolution measure. We also demonstrate how different factors, such as extraneous noise sources and the spatial orientation of the imaged object pair, can affect the accuracy with which a given distance of separation can be determined.     

弱光波前传感器质心计算的新方法

 研究了Shack Hartmann波前传感器质心计算的新方法,即最小二乘高斯拟合方法。分析了Shack-Hartmann波前传感器采用一阶矩质心计算位置方法对光斑强度的敏感性,与最小二乘高斯拟合方法进行了比较,并对Shack Hartmann波前传感器的子孔径波前斜率探测的正确性进行了分析。最后的计算结果表明最小二乘高斯拟合法计算子孔径光斑的质心位置可以减小质心探测的误差。     

面向近原子尺度制造的光学测量精度极限分析

纳米级乃至更高精度的测量是原子及近原子尺度制造技术发展的基础和保障.光学测量具有精度高、测量范围广、测量直观等优点,其对单个成像光斑中心的定位可达远超衍射极限的精度.但由于光本身散粒噪声、探测器暗电流噪声等随机性的存在,光学测量存在精度极限.本文基于克拉美罗下界理论发展了可适用于任意强度分布像斑的精度极限计算方法,并以典型艾里斑为例,分析了成像过程中反映信噪比、能量集中度、计算方式的参数对定位精度极限的影响规律并给出提高精度的建议和结论.对实验所得像斑进行了精度极限计算,验证了所得结论对类似艾里斑的像斑的适用性.研究为原子及近原子尺度制造过程中光学测量的应用和优化提供了分析方法和理论指导.     

Amplitude squeezing of light by means of a phase-sensitive fiber parametric amplifier

We experimentally demonstrate generation of bright sub-Poissonian light by means of parametric deamplification in a phase-sensitive fiber amplifier that is based on a balanced nonlinear Sagnac interferometer. On direct detection, the photocurrent noise falls below the shot-noise limit by (0.6 +/- 0.2) dB (1.4 dB when corrected for detection losses). To observe the noise reduction we employed a scheme that used two orthogonally polarized pulses to cancel the noise that arises from the predominantly polarized guided-acoustic-wave Brillouin scattering in the fiber. We also present a simplified semiclassical theory of quantum-noise suppression by this amplifier, which is found to be in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Random signal fluctuations can reduce random fluctuations in regulated components of chemical regulatory networks

Many intracellular components are present in low copy numbers per cell and subject to feedback control. We use chemical master equations to analyze a negative feedback system where species X and S regulate each other's synthesis with standard intracellular kinetics. For a given number of X-molecules, S-variation can be significant. We show that this signal noise does not necessarily increase X-variation as previously thought but, surprisingly, can be necessary to reduce it below a Poissonian limit. The principle resembles Stochastic Resonance in that signal noise improves signal detection.