Ultranarrow-linewidth levitated nano-oscillator for testing dissipative wave-function collapse

Pontin, A., Bullier, N.P., Toroš, M. and Barker, P.F. (2020) Ultranarrow-linewidth levitated nano-oscillator for testing dissipative wave-function collapse. Physical Review Research, 2(2), 023349. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023349)

[img] Text
251561.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

1MB

Abstract

Levitated nano-oscillators are promising platforms for testing fundamental physics and quantum mechanics in a new high mass regime. Levitation allows extreme isolation from the environment, reducing the decoherence processes that are crucial for these sensitive experiments. A fundamental property of any oscillator is its linewidth and mechanical quality factor Q . Narrow linewidths in the microhertz regime and mechanical Q 's as high as 10 12 have been predicted for levitated systems. The insufficient long-term stability of these oscillators has prevented direct measurement in high vacuum. Here we report on the measurement of an ultranarrow linewidth levitated nano-oscillator, whose width of 81 ± 23 μ Hz is only limited by residual gas pressure at high vacuum despite residual variations of the trapping potential. This narrow linewidth allows us to put new experimental bounds on dissipative models of wave-function collapse including continuous spontaneous localization and Diósi-Penrose and illustrates its utility for future precision experiments that aim to test the macroscopic limits of quantum mechanics.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:The authors acknowledge funding from the EPSRC Grant No. EP/N031105/1 and the H2020-EU.1.2.1 TEQ project Grant agreement ID: 766900. A.P. has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement ID: 749709 a N.P.B. acknowledges funding from the EPSRC Grant No. EP/L015242/1.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Toros, Dr Marko
Authors: Pontin, A., Bullier, N.P., Toroš, M., and Barker, P.F.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
Journal Name:Physical Review Research
Publisher:American Physical Society
ISSN:2643-1564
ISSN (Online):2643-1564
Published Online:16 June 2020
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 American Physical Society
First Published:First published in Physical Review Research 2(2): 023349
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record