Quantum sensing of high-frequency gravitational waves with ion crystals

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method for detecting high-frequency gravitational waves using two-dimensional ion crystals, leveraging resonant excitation and quantum entanglement to enhance sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit.

Contribution

It introduces a new detection scheme utilizing ion crystal drumhead modes and entanglement to improve gravitational wave sensitivity in the 10 kHz to 10 MHz range.

Findings

Detection sensitivity improves with larger ion crystals.

Entanglement enables detection beyond the standard quantum limit.

Future large ion crystals can significantly enhance detection capabilities.

Abstract

A detection method for high-frequency gravitational waves using two-dimensional ion crystals is investigated. Gravitational waves can resonantly excite the drumhead modes of the ion crystal, particularly the parity-odd modes. In the optical dipole force protocol, entanglement between the drumhead modes and the collective spins transfers the excitation of the drumhead modes to the rotation of the total spin. Furthermore, gravitational wave detection beyond the standard quantum limit becomes possible as a squeezed spin state is generated through this entanglement. The sensitivity gets better with a larger ions crystals as well as a larger number of the ions. Future realization of large ion crystals can significantly improve the sensitivity to gravitational waves in the 10 kHz to 10 MHz region.