Experimental observation of Earth's rotation with quantum entanglement.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38875336.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.ado0215 and PMC identifier 11177943.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Precision interferometry with quantum states has emerged as an essential tool for experimentally answering fundamental questions in physics. Optical quantum interferometers are of particular interest because of mature methods for generating and manipulating quantum states of light. Their increased sensitivity promises to enable tests of quantum phenomena, such as entanglement, in regimes where tiny gravitational effects come into play. However, this requires long and decoherence-free processing of quantum entanglement, which, for large interferometric areas, remains unexplored territory. Here, we present a table-top experiment using maximally path-entangled quantum states of light in a large-scale interferometer sensitive enough to measure the rotation rate of Earth. The achieved sensitivity of 5 μrad s<sup>-1</sup> constitutes the highest rotation resolution ever reached with optical quantum interferometers. Further improvements to our methodology will enable measurements of general-relativistic effects on entangled photons, allowing the exploration of the interplay between quantum mechanics and general relativity, along with tests for fundamental physics.