Thermodynamik mit levitierter Optomechanik

Optical control of nano- and micro-particles has recently found application in two relatively young fields of physics: Stochastic Thermodynamics and Quantum Optomechanics. In the former case, optical tweezers were used to control colloidal particles in liquid, to test new theoretical predictions concerning their far-from-equilibrium behaviour and to realize novel concepts, like a stochastic heat engine, that uses only single particles as a working medium.

In Cavity-Optomechanics, light fields that are trapped between mirrors can control mechanical oscillators so delicately, that a control at the quantum level becomes possible. As optical levitation allows the realization of particularly high-quality mechanical oscillators, levitated cavity-Optomechanics has become a promising candidate for fundamental tests of quantum theory with massive particles.

The idea behind this project is to enhance cross-fertilization between those flourishing and highly related fields by exploiting all-optical control of levitated nano-objects as a common experimental theme that allows access to the quantum regime.

The central goal is to provide a testbed of unique flexibility for stochastic thermodynamics in the classical and in the quantum regime and to implement new concepts of quantum thermodynamics, to characterize and eventually optimize them, for example the idea of quantum heat engines.

To achieve this, we will build on the technology existing for optical tweezers in liquid and even in cold atom experiments to implement complex optical potential landscapes in vacuum. This will enable a great level of control over the dynamics of a levitated nanoparticle. We further continue to fully develop levitating cavity optomechanics to additionally implement time-dependent anisotropic friction and/or temperature and to enable preparation of non-classical states and quantum state analysis. Combining these experiments in a single setup allows to implement thermodynamic processes with an extraordinary level of control and to implement completely new tests of thermodynamics with an unprecedented degree of generality.

The major impact of such a new scientific tool surely is its value for understanding fundamental questions in thermodynamics, statistical physics and the foundations of quantum physics and as a model for new thermodynamic heat engines. In addition, however, optically levitating nanospheres in ultra-high vacuum have also been anticipated to serve as excellent sensors of force and mass and might therefore also find a direct way towards technological application.