Interferometria quantistica con condensati di Bose-Einstein
Quantum interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates

PRIN 2009FBKLNN_002

Funded by: Ministero dell’Istruzione, Università e Ricerca (MIUR)  
Calls: PRIN 2009
Start date: 2011-10-17  End date: 2013-10-17
Total Budget: EUR 498.795,00  INO share of the total budget: EUR 149.639,00
Scientific manager: Giovanni Modugno   and for INO is: Smerzi Augusto

Organization/Institution/Company main assignee: Università degli Studi di Firenze

other Organization/Institution/Company involved:

other INO’s people involved:



Abstract: Improved control over the quantum states of particles is presently extending our measurement, computation and communication capabilities beyond the limits that
only a few decades ago were considered to be unbreakable. The use of entanglement, a purely quantum resource, has so far opened the road to the implementation of
quantum information and quantum communication schemes, and times are mature to attempt the realization of other kinds of quantum technologies, such as
entanglement-enhanced sensor. In this project we want to realize an interferometric sensor based on atomic Bose-Einstein condensates that exploits entangled states
to improve its sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit of sensitivity, towards the ultimate Heisenberg limit set by quantum mechanics.
To reach this goal we will combine a novel approach based on a Bose-Einstein condensate with dynamically tunable interaction with novel schemes for creating and
exploiting entanglement in interferometers and an improved theoretical understanding of the usefulness of entanglement in real devices.
The system we want to realize is a Mach-Zehnder spatial interferometer, an archetypal scheme that is on one side very interesting for local inertial measurements and
on the other side is at the basis of any other interferometric scheme. There are several challenges on the way to a Heisenberg-limited sensitivity, such as those related
to the creation of entanglement using nonlinear interactions, to the full exploitation of entanglement for precision measurements, and to the experimental control and
the theoretical modelling of the decoherence arising from noise, particle losses and finite temperature effects.
The successful completion of this project will result in: i) a working Bose-Einstein condensate interferometer with entangled states with unprecedented sensitivity, for
possible immediate application to precision measurements; ii) development of theoretical models and experimental strategies for the use of entanglement in
Bose-Einstein condensate interferometers; iii) development of general theoretical models on entanglement and of general strategies for the exploitation of
entanglement in a larger class of atom-based quantum schemes.