{
  "abstract": "The establishment of metrics and control of fundamental noise sources in quantum sensing is a long-standing goal in quantum science and technology. We report on the observation of polariton-mediated optical noise in a thermal Rydberg atom vapor and demonstrate its active control and suppression using a radio-frequency field in Rydberg electrometry. The noise exhibits structured amplification and reduction across the Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency resonance. This reveals a nonlinear slow-light feedback mechanism in which the polariton medium stores and releases probe-field energy. We show that the reference radio-frequency field used in Rydberg heterodyne receivers can also tune the medium into an operating regime where high electromagnetic-field responsivity coincides with reduced optical noise. This operating-point control enables optimization of the electric-field sensitivity within the constraints imposed by Rydberg-polariton physics. These results establish polariton noise as a previously unrecognized intrinsic noise source in thermal Rydberg vapors and the corresponding control method as a crucial aspect of continued efforts to achieve fundamental sensitivity limits in Rydberg electrometry.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.26479",
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Teng Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Luís Felipe Gonçalves"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alisher Duspayev"
    },
    {
      "name": "Georg Raithel"
    },
    {
      "name": "David A. Anderson"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/66pjzx1m49zx2.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.26479",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "66pjzx1m49zx2",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26479",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.app-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.atom-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "quant-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Quantum optics and atomic interactions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223069002",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.26479",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-19",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/66pjzx1m49zx2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:30:52Z",
      "native_id": "2610.26479",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26479"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.atom-ph",
      "subfield": "amo"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.app-ph",
      "subfield": "applied-instrumentation"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:quant-ph",
      "subfield": "quantum"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Observation and control of polariton noise in a thermal Rydberg atom electrometer",
  "title_text": "Observation and control of polariton noise in a thermal Rydberg atom electrometer",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:33:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/66pjzx1m49zx2",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}