Generating Schr\"{o}dinger-cat states in momentum and internal-state space from Bose-Einstein condensates with repulsive interactions

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to generate Schrödinger-cat states in momentum and internal states of Bose-Einstein condensates using resonant Raman coupling, enabling advanced quantum control and metrology.

Contribution

It introduces an approximate many-body formalism for a weakly interacting, periodically-dressed Bose gas and demonstrates how to create and control Schrödinger-cat states via experimental parameters.

Findings

Stable ground states tend toward Schrödinger-cat states under certain conditions.

Derived how experimental parameters influence momentum-space tunneling and exchange interactions.

Proposed real-time control techniques for creating and manipulating cat states for quantum applications.

Abstract

Resonant Raman coupling between internal levels induced by continuous illumination of non-collinear laser beams can create double-well momentum-space potentials for multi-level ``periodically-dressed'' atoms. We develop an approximate many-body formalism for a weakly interacting, trapped periodically-dressed Bose gas which illustrates how a tunable exchange interaction yields correlated many-body ground states. In contrast to the case of a position-space double well, the ground state of stable periodically-dressed Bose gases with repulsive interactions tends toward a Schr\"{o}dinger cat state in the regime where interactions dominate the momentum-space tunnelling induced by the external trapping potential. The dependence of the momentum-space tunnelling and exchange interaction on experimental parameters is derived. We discuss how real-time control of experimental parameters can be used to create Schr\"{o}dinger cat states either between momentum or internal states, and how these states could be dynamically controlled towards highly sensitive interferometry and frequency metrology.