Entanglement generated by dissipation and steady state entanglement of two macroscopic objects

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that dissipation, typically seen as destructive, can be engineered to generate and maintain robust entanglement between two macroscopic atomic ensembles at room temperature, with potential applications in quantum information.

Contribution

It introduces a method to generate steady state entanglement of macroscopic objects through engineered dissipation and continuous measurement, achieving long-lasting entanglement at room temperature.

Findings

Dissipation can be harnessed to generate entanglement.

Steady state entanglement maintained for up to an hour.

Robust entanglement achieved at room temperature.

Abstract

Entanglement is a striking feature of quantum mechanics and an essential ingredient in most applications in quantum information. Typically, coupling of a system to an environment inhibits entanglement, particularly in macroscopic systems. Here we report on an experiment, where dissipation continuously generates entanglement between two macroscopic objects. This is achieved by engineering the dissipation using laser- and magnetic fields, and leads to robust event-ready entanglement maintained for 0.04s at room temperature. Our system consists of two ensembles containing about 10^{12} atoms and separated by 0.5m coupled to the environment composed of the vacuum modes of the electromagnetic field. By combining the dissipative mechanism with a continuous measurement, steady state entanglement is continuously generated and observed for up to an hour.