Postselected optomechanical superpositions
ORAL
Abstract
We present a scheme for achieving macroscopic quantum superpositions in weakly coupled optomechanical systems by using single photon postselection. This method allows the creation of macroscopic superpositions with currently achievable device parameters, and allows observation of decoherence on a timescale unconstrained by the system's optical decay time. This method relieves many of the challenges associated with previous optical schemes for measuring macroscopic superpositions, and only requires the devices to be in the weak coupling regime. Prospects for observing novel decoherence mechanisms are also discussed.
*The authors gratefully acknowledge support from NSF PHY-0804177 and Marie Curie EXT-CT-2006-042580
–