Searching for Non-Randomness of Quantum Mechanics with Trapped Ions

Dana Berkeland, LANL, P-21

A single trapped and laser cooled ion can be continuously observed for weeks; its internal transitions can be detected with near unit efficiency, and its internal and external states can be coherently manipulated with high fidelity. Because of this, laser cooled and trapped ions provide extremely clean systems for testing basic quantum mechanics and for developing test beds for quatum information processing schemes. In our laboratory we are performing several experiments on single ions and pairs of ions laser cooled and tightly confined in a linear rf trap. I will describe results of our precise tests for non-randomness in quantum jumps, which are over a magnitude more statistically significant than previous results. I will also describe a separate laser spectroscopy experiment in which we demonstrate a 674-nm laser linewidth of 1.3 kHz, which we are currently using to develop a high fidelity, scaleable quantum logic gate in a single ion.

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