Quantum jumps of sound.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42752125.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.aeh7535.
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Abstract
Quantum mechanics predicts that a vibrating object's energy comes in discrete packets, yet no measurement of its position reveals this discreteness. Resolving individual energy levels requires a qualitatively different measurement, one coupling to the resonator's energy rather than its displacement. We use a superconducting qubit dispersively coupled to a nanomechanical resonator to perform repeated quantum nondemolition measurements of the phonon number. An aligned transfer-print technique integrating the qubit and resonator yields a mechanical lifetime of [Formula: see text] milliseconds and a dispersive shift of [Formula: see text] kilohertz per phonon. We heralded single-phonon states with 85% fidelity and observed quantum jumps between the resonator's first excited state and ground state. These discontinuous transitions are a striking manifestation of quantum mechanics in a massive, vibrating object.