Swati Singh, University of Delaware
When properly engineered, simple quantum systems such as harmonic oscillators or spins can be excellent detectors of feeble forces and fields. Following a general introduction to this fast growing area of research I will focus on two simple and experimentally realizable examples: a nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond interacting with its many-body environment, and acoustic modes of superfluid helium interacting with gravitational waves.
In the first case, I will demonstrate within a semi-classical description that it is possible to understand (and even control) the quantum many-body environment of the of the NV center, thereby enabling several magnetometry applications. In the second example I will show that for reasonable experimental parameters, a hybrid quantum system consisting of superfluid helium coupled to superconducting cavity could enable the detection of gravitational waves from nearby pulsars.