Abstract

We are building an experiment in which a nitrogen-vacancy-centre electron spin would be used to put a levitated nanodiamond into a spatial quantum superposition [1,2]. This would be able to test theories of spontaneous wavefunction collapse and is the first step of a much more ambitious experiment to test if gravitational effects can be in a quantum superposition [3,4]. This seminar will describe our improved experimental design [1,5-7] and early experimental progress [5,8,9].

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[2] Z.-q. Yin, T. Li, X. Zhang & L.M. Duan, PRA 88 , 033614 (2013).

[3] S. Bose, A. Mazumdar, G.W. Morley, H. Ulbricht, M. Toroš, M. Paternostro, A.A. Geraci, P.F. Barker, M.S. Kim & G. Milburn, PRL 119 , 240401 (2017).

[4] C. Marletto & V. Vedral, PRL 119 , 240402 (2017).

[5] B.D. Wood, G.A. Stimpson, J.E. March, Y.N.D. Lekhai, C.J. Stephen, B.L. Green, A.C. Frangeskou, L Ginés, S Mandal, O.A. Williams, S Bose & G.W. Morley, arXiv:2105.02105 (2021).

[6] C. Wan, M. Scala, G.W. Morley, A.T.M.A. Rahman, H. Ulbricht, J. Bateman, P.F. Barker, S. Bose & M.S. Kim, PRL 117 , 143003 (2016).

[7] J.S. Pedernales, G.W. Morley & M.B. Plenio, PRL 125 , 023602 (2020).

[8] A.T.M.A. Rahman, A.C. Frangeskou, M.S. Kim, S. Bose, G.W. Morley & P.F. Barker, Sci. Rep. 6, 21633 (2016).

[9] A.C. Frangeskou, A.T.M.A. Rahman, L. Gines, S. Mandal, O.A. Williams, P.F. Barker & G.W. Morley, NJP 20 , 043016 (2018).