Quantum clocks observe classical and quantum time dilation

Exploring the Dynamical Interplay between Mass-Energy Equivalence, Interactions, and Entanglement in an Optical Lattice Clock

We propose protocols that probe manifestations of the mass-energy equivalence in an optical lattice clock interrogated with spin coherent and entangled quantum states. To tune and uniquely distinguish the mass-energy equivalence effects (gravitational redshift and second-order Doppler shift) in such a setting, we devise a dressing protocol using an additional nuclear spin state. We then analyze the dynamical interplay between photon-mediated interactions and gravitational redshift and show that such interplay can lead to entanglement generation and frequency synchronization dynamics. In the regime where all atomic spins synchronize, we show the synchronization time depends on the initial entanglement of the state and can be used as a proxy of its metrological gain compared to a classical state. Our work opens new possibilities for exploring the effects of general relativity on quantum coherence and entanglement in optical lattice clock experiments.

Time dilation and time reversal with the multiple-wavelengths range-gated active imaging principle

The possibility of realizing time dilation and time reversal of events taking place in a scene by using the multiple-wavelengths range-gated active imaging (WRAI) principle in superimposed style was studied. Both temporal behaviors could be analyzed as a function of time since the WRAI principle allows different positions of the object in the image to be frozen at different moments according to the wavelengths. As the speed of the photons varies in the function of the refraction law of the crossed medium, different media were used to intervene in the time of the events recorded by the camera. Different wavelengths were used to select these media. By increasing the refractive index of the crossed medium as a function of time, the scene events arrived chronologically with an increasing delay compared to the events seen in the open, giving the impression of slowing down time. Similarly, by decreasing the refractive index of the crossed medium as a function of time, the scene events arrived chronologically in the opposite direction compared to the events seen in the open, giving the impression of going back in time. Experimental test results validated the theoretical part and the possibility of observing these different temporal behaviors with the multiple-wavelengths range-gated active imaging principle in superimposed style.

Quantum Relativity of Subsystems

One of the most basic notions in physics is the partitioning of a system into subsystems and the study of correlations among its parts. In this Letter, we explore this notion in the context of quantum reference frame (QRF) covariance, in which this partitioning is subject to a symmetry constraint. We demonstrate that different reference frame perspectives induce different sets of subsystem observable algebras, which leads to a gauge-invariant, frame-dependent notion of subsystems and entanglement. We further demonstrate that subalgebras which commute before imposing the symmetry constraint can translate into noncommuting algebras in a given QRF perspective after symmetry imposition. Such a QRF perspective does not inherit the distinction between subsystems in terms of the corresponding tensor factorizability of the kinematical Hilbert space and observable algebra. Since the condition for this to occur is contingent on the choice of QRF, the notion of subsystem locality is frame dependent.

The Unruh Effect in Slow Motion

We show under what conditions an accelerated detector (e.g., an atom/ion/molecule) thermalizes while interacting with the vacuum state of a quantum field in a setup where the detector’s acceleration alternates sign across multiple optical cavities. We show (non-perturbatively) in what regimes the probe ‘forgets’ that it is traversing cavities and thermalizes to a temperature proportional to its acceleration, the same as it would in free space. Then we analyze in detail how this thermalization relates to the renowned Unruh effect. Finally, we use these results to propose an experimental testbed for the direct detection of the Unruh effect at relatively low probe speeds and accelerations, potentially orders of magnitude below previous proposals.