Atom-Mechanical Hong-Ou-Mandel Interference

TL;DR

This paper proposes an experimental setup to observe Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between single phononic and atomic excitations, demonstrating nonclassical quantum bunching effects in a hybrid atom-mechanical system.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hybrid quantum gate using optical pulses to test bosonic interference between atoms and mechanical oscillators.

Findings

Proposes a feasible experimental test for hybrid quantum bunching.

Shows nonclassical bunching effects in atom-mechanical systems.

Provides a pathway for advanced quantum interference experiments.

Abstract

Quantum coupling between mechanical oscillators and atomic gases generating entanglement has been recently experimentally demonstrated using their subsequent interaction with light. The next step is to build a hybrid atom-mechanical quantum gate showing bosonic interference effects of single quanta in the atoms and oscillators. We propose an experimental test of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between single phononic excitation and single collective excitation of atoms using the optical connection between them. A single optical pulse is sufficient to build a hybrid quantum-nondemolition gate to observe the bunching of such different quanta. The output atomic-mechanical state exhibits a probability of a hybrid bunching effect that proves its nonclassical aspects. This proposal opens a feasible road to broadly test such advanced quantum bunching phenomena in a hybrid system with different specific couplings.