Quantum metrology with ultracold chemical reactions

TL;DR

This paper explores how ultracold chemical reactions in Bose-Einstein condensates can be used for highly sensitive quantum metrology, potentially enhancing detection capabilities for physical phenomena like dark matter and gravitational waves.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach utilizing coherent ultracold chemical reactions in BECs for quantum sensing, expanding the potential applications of ultracold chemistry in precision measurement.

Findings

Weak perturbations alter reaction dynamics in BECs

Coherent molecule creation can be spectroscopically detected

Potential for improved sensors for dark matter and gravitational waves

Abstract

Chemical chain reactions are known to enable extremely sensitive detection schemes in chemical, biological, and medical analysis, and have even been used in the search for dark matter. Here we show that coherent, ultracold chemical reactions harbor great potential for quantum metrology: In an atom-molecule Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), a weak external perturbation can modify the reaction dynamics and lead to the coherent creation of molecules in an atom-dominant regime which can be selectively detected with modern spectroscopic techniques. This promises to substantially improve the viability of previously proposed BEC-based sensors for acceleration, gravitational waves, and other physical quantities, including the detection of dark matter, that so far relied on the detection of the tiny density modulations caused by the creation of single phonons.