Back-action evading impulse measurement with mechanical quantum sensors

Understand

The quantum measurement of any observable naturally leads to noise added by the act of measurement.

• Approaches to evade or reduce this noise can lead to substantial improvements in a wide variety of sensors, from laser interferometers to precision magnetometers and more.
• In this paper, we develop a measurement protocol based upon pioneering work by the gravitational wave community which allows for reduction of added noise from measurement by coupling an optical field to the momentum of a small mirror.
• As a specific implementation, we present a continuous measurement protocol using a double-ring optomechanical cavity.