Making Quantum States of Light With Moving Mirrors

Over the last few decades, experimental physicists have observed quantum effects in the vibrations of mechanical resonators in a surprising range of experiments and sizes of objects. Achieving the quantum regime with the tangible motion of solid objects has piqued physicists’ curiosity and enabled new approaches to difficult tasks in manipulating quantum information.

In this lecture, Cindy Regal will present experiments that measure the motion of drumlike mirrors and discuss how the experiments evolved from a rich history of read-out and control in quantum optics and precision measurement. She will highlight her team’s current efforts to use mechanical motion as a link between quantum states in disparate parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.