Coherently enhanced measurements in classical mechanics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a classical analogue to quantum-enhanced measurement protocols, using coupled harmonic oscillators to achieve high-precision measurements, including a novel method for measuring the gravitational constant.

Contribution

It introduces a classical protocol inspired by quantum coherent averaging, enabling enhanced measurement sensitivity without entanglement.

Findings

Classical analogue of quantum measurement protocol shown to achieve high sensitivity.

Proposed application for measuring very weak interactions, including gravity.

Potential for improved precision in fundamental constant measurements.

Abstract

We show that the recently discovered quantum-enhanced measurement protocol of coherent averaging that is capable of achieving Heisenberg-limited sensitivity without using entanglement, has a classical analogue. The classical protocol uses N harmonic oscillators coupled to a central oscillator and one measures the signal from the latter. We propose an application to the measurement of very weak interactions, and, in particular, a novel route to measuring the gravitational constant with enhanced precision.