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Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 130401 (2003) [4 pages]

Towards Quantum Superpositions of a Mirror

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William Marshall1,2, Christoph Simon1, Roger Penrose3,4, and Dik Bouwmeester1,2
1Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
2Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
3Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
4Department of Mathematics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3LB, United Kingdom

 See Also: Publisher's Note

Received 30 September 2002; published 23 September 2003; publisher error corrected 25 September 2003

We propose an experiment for creating quantum superposition states involving of the order of 1014 atoms via the interaction of a single photon with a tiny mirror. This mirror, mounted on a high-quality mechanical oscillator, is part of a high-finesse optical cavity which forms one arm of a Michelson interferometer. By observing the interference of the photon only, one can study the creation and decoherence of superpositions involving the mirror. A detailed analysis of the requirements shows that the experiment is within reach using a combination of state-of-the-art technologies.


©2003 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.130401
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.130401
PACS: 03.65.Ta, 03.65.Yz, 42.50.Ct

See Also

Publisher's Note: William Marshall, Christoph Simon, Roger Penrose, and Dik Bouwmeester, Publisher’s Note: Towards Quantum Superpositions of a Mirror [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 130401 (2003)], Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 159903 (2003)

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