Conditional preparation of arbitrary superpositions of atomic Dicke states

Abstract

We propose an experimentally accessible procedure for conditional preparation of highly nonclassical states of collective spin of an atomic ensemble. The quantum state engineering is based on a combination of quantum nondemolition interaction between atoms and light previously prepared in a non-Gaussian state using photon subtraction from squeezed vacuum beam, homodyne detection on the output light beam, and a coherent displacement of atomic state. The procedure is capable of nondeterministic preparation of a wide class of superpositions of atomic Dicke states. We present several techniques to optimize the performance of the protocol and maximize the trade off between fidelity of prepared state and success probability of the scheme.

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• Physical Review A - View
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