Hamburg 2009 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 60: Quanteneffekte: Dekohärenz

Q 60.3: Talk

Friday, March 6, 2009, 11:00–11:15, VMP 6 HS-D

Identifying and probing complex environments with optomechanical systems — •Konrad Kieling¹, Alexey Trubarov², Markus Aspelmeyer², and Jens Eisert¹ — ¹Institut für Physik and Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany — ²Institut für Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation, Vienna, Austria

Optomechanical systems offer the perspective of driving mechanical modes to close to the quantum ground state by a suitable radiation pressure coupling to the light field of a cavity. In this work, we study the influence of complex thermal baths to which the mechanical mode is coupled, and discuss effects of non-Ohmic damping. Complementary to efforts of cooling down the mirror to observe quantum mechanical behaviour, a new perspective of using such systems will be presented. We will discuss ideas of using the mechanical mirror at a finite temperature as an ultrasensitive device to probe properties of complex baths -- which are unaccessible so far. This is done without making any possibly unjustified assumptions: Using the device as a black box in systems identification, one can think of certifiably and quantitatively probing properties of decohering environments.