SciPost Thesis Link
| Title: | Quantum atom optics with metastable helium atoms | |
| Author: | Quentin Marolleau | |
| As Contributor: | Quentin Marolleau | |
| Type: | Ph.D. | |
| Field: | Physics | |
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| Approaches: | Theoretical, Experimental | |
| URL: | https://www.theses.fr/2022UPASP166 | |
| Degree granting institution: | Université Paris-Saclay | |
| Supervisor(s): | Denis Boiron | |
| Defense date: | 2022-12-13 |
Abstract:
Correlation and entanglement properties of multi-particle quantum states have been demonstrated since the 1980s in the context of photonics. Since then, the production and characterization of non-classical states in various contexts has become a very fruitful research topic, as well as a burning issue for the development of quantum technologies. This thesis presents an experimental platform able to prepare helium atoms in strongly correlated momentum states. The detection technique that has been developed in our group (three dimensional and resolved to the single atom) allows to efficiently probe these correlation properties, which is in general difficult to achieve for most similar experimental setups. In particular, this manuscript contains a first part of theoretical nature, which deals on the one hand with the generalization of the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect (in a context where more than two particles are involved) ; and on the other hand with the implementation of an experiment testing the Bell inequalities for atoms entangled with respect to their velocities. Both experiments could be carried out by our team in the near future. A second experimental part reports on the recent progress made on the platform, as well as the latest experimental results concerning the correlation properties of the atomic source that we have set up.