Our article on “Achieving the ultimate quantum timing resolution” has recently been published in Physical Review X Quantum and has been highlighted in Physics, the online magazine of the American Physical society.
In this work we address the problem of measuring two light pulses with a very small separation, for applications in e.g. LIDAR or stellar astronomy. The more precise the measurement, the more accurately we can determine the distance. However, if the signals start to overlap, conventional measurements can no longer measure their separation. This is known as the resolution limit.
Using the quantum pulse gate as a measurement device and methods from quantum information theory, we have not only been able to determine the time distance of overlapping signals with quantum limited precision but also their unequal intensities. We measured pulses overlapping as much as 90 percent with several orders of magnitude improved precision compared to the classical resolution limit.
The research will be discussed with the authors and editors in a live, open journal club organised by the Americal physical society later in February. Everyone is invited to join.
Read more about our results in the Pysics viewpoint article. Find the original published article in PRX Quantum 2, 010301 (2021).
Paderborn university Science communication contact.
Contact
Dr. Benjamin Brecht
Integrated Quantum Optics
Group leader "Quantum Networks"
