DecoXtreme · Decocherence of Levitated Microscopic Particles in Extreme Isolation
Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2023-08-01 → 2025-07-31
- EU contribution
- €199,441
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Decocherence of Levitated Microscopic Particles in Extreme Isolation
At the heart of quantum mechanics lies the superposition principle: if a system can exist in two different states, it can also exist in both at once. This means that, in principle, a particle can be in two places at the same time. While this counterintuitive idea has been confirmed in experiments with electrons, atoms, and even complex molecules, testing it at larger mass and length scales remains one of the great challenges in modern physics. Levitated nanoparticles offer a promising route to explore quantum superpositions at unprecedented scales. In 2020, researchers succeeded in cooling the motion of such a nanoparticle to a highly pure quantum state—an important step toward observing macroscopic quantum behavior. However, due to their large mass, quantum effects in these systems occur at extremely small scales—on the order of picometers—requiring exceptional isolation from environmental noise and decoherence to be observable. This project aims to advance our understanding of noise and decoherence in levitated systems, particularly beyond standard models. By refining the theoretical framework and proposing experimental strategies to control and certify quantum behavior in these challenging conditions, we aim to theoretically support efforts to test the limits of quantum mechanics at the macroscopic scale.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
One of the most intriguing features of quantum mechanics is the superposition principle, which allows a quantum object to be in two classically distinguishable states “at the same time”. Levitated objects, like nanoparticles, are an exciting platform to put the superposition principle at test, with simultaneously large masses and delocalization distances. Recently, in 2020 and 2021, the center of mass motion of a levitated nanoparticle was experimentally cooled down to the quantum regime. To achieve this milestone, the experiment had to be performed in extreme isolation conditions (e.g., ultra-high vacuum). Now the field faces the challenge to promote the high-purity quantum ground state cooled state of the nanoparticle to a more complex quantum state, which can be subsequently used for applications. DecoXtreme, is a multidisciplinary study devoted to provide the theoretical framework that allows to push the experiments with levitated nanoparticles deep in the quantum regime, by improving the current theoretical description of decoherence, envisioning strategies to mitigate its effects, and certifying the quantum properties of the observed quantum phenomena. To achieve this goal, we propose to promote the description of decoherence to move beyond the memoryless and continous noise approximations, to design decoherence protected states exploiting collective properties of levitated objects, and to analyze how to quantumness has to be certified in extreme isolation conditions. If successful, our rigorous theoretical analysis combined with the corresponding experimentally realistic constraints will uncover the path to longer lifetimes for quantum superpositions and, ultimately, lead to a better understanding of the nature of quantum phenomena.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/101103589
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e50feb818d&appId=PPGMS
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e51b7e3cba&appId=PPGMS
Data: CORDIS, © European Union