Jonathan Home

Title

Dissipative State Engineering and Squeezed Schrödinger’s Cats

Abstract

Individual trapped atomic ions provide a pristine testing ground for quantum control. We have used these to demonstrate novel control of quantum harmonic oscillators in an experimentally chosen state basis. This provides direct access to squeezed uncertainty states which are preserved indefinitely, which we can superpose at different positions in space to create a “squeezed Schrodinger’s cat”. These methods provide tools for studies of quantum computing and entanglement.