Our group's research utilizes experimental nonlinear optics to study various phenomena in the field of quantum information science. One core aspect of this research is to improve our understanding of the fundamental physics surrounding quantum entanglement and quantum states of light. A second aspect involves utilizing these concepts in various computation, communication, and measurement protocols to enhance performance beyond classical limits.
The fundamental process involved in this research is four-wave mixing in warm atomic vapor. This process generates pairs of photons in separate spatial modes that exhibit stronger correlations than allowed by classical physics, in multiple degrees of freedom. When a laser is used to seed the process, bright “twin beams” of light are created. The correlations in these “twin beam” states are exploited to enhance, for example, interferometric measurements and the resolution of imaging systems. Investigating novel methods to generate highly multimode “squeezed light” is an important aspect of this research area.