DLS Yiwen Chu: The quantum world of massive mechanical objects
Biography:
Yiwen Chu is currently an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department at ETH Zürich. She leads the Hybrid Quantum Systems Group, which was established in 2019. The group focuses on using mechanical resonators in combination with other quantum systems for a variety of purposes ranging from quantum information processing to studies of fundamental physics. Yiwen did her bachelor studies at MIT and her PhD in the group of Prof. Mikhail Lukin at Harvard. She was then at Yale for a postdoc in the group of Prof. Rob Schoelkopf before moving to Zürich.
Abstract:
One of the first model systems we encounter in quantum mechanics class is a mass on a spring. However, in practice, it is not easy to observe a massive mechanical object exhibiting the quantum properties of a harmonic oscillator, such as zero-point fluctuations, energy quantization, or quantum superpositions. Nevertheless, in recent years, it has become possible to control and the measure the quantum states of the motion of macroscopic mechanical objects. I will present our recent experiments on creating “Schrödinger cat” states in a bulk acoustic wave resonator by coupling it to a superconducting circuit, and how we can observe the quantum ground state of a several hundred microgram mechanical mode using light. I will also discuss the applications of these systems in quantum information, quantum sensing, and explorations of fundamental physics.
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