LAUSR

We present a scheme to deterministically prepare non-classical quantum states of a massive mirror including highly non-Gaussian states exhibiting sizeable negativity of the Wigner function. This is achieved by exploiting the non-linear light–matter interaction in an optomechanical cavity by driving the system with optimally designed frequency patterns. Our scheme reveals to be resilient against mechanical and optical damping, as well as mechanical thermal noise and imperfections in the driving scheme. Our proposal thus opens a promising route for table-top experiments to explore and exploit macroscopic quantum phenomena.Preparing on demand quantum states with massive objectsA proposal for creating quantum states of a massive moving mirror could help probe the transition from quantum to classical physics. The crossover from quantum to classical physics from atoms to macroscopic objects is one of physics’ greatest puzzles. One of the problems with studying this transition is that it is very difficult to create quantum objects that have a large mass. Ludovico Latmiral and Florian Mintert from Imperial College London now propose a scheme to deterministically prepare non-classical quantum states of a massive moving mirror. They show that such a scheme should be fairly resilient to imperfections, meaning that it could not only potentially be used as a quantum memory, but it could also provide a promising route to performing table-top experiments to explore and potentially exploit macroscopic quantum phenomena.