Quantum jumps of sound
Abstract
Quantum mechanics predicts that a vibrating object's energy comes in discrete packets, yet no measurement of its position reveals this discreteness. Resolving individual energy levels requires a qualitatively different measurement, one coupling to the resonator's energy rather than its displacement. We use a superconducting qubit dispersively coupled to a nanomechanical resonator to perform repeated quantum nondemolition measurements of the phonon number. An aligned transfer-print technique integrating the qubit and resonator yields a mechanical lifetime of T1 = 2.1 milliseconds and a dispersive shift of 2χ/2π= 328 kilohertz per phonon. We heralded single-phonon states with 85% fidelity and observed quantum jumps between the resonator's first excited state and ground state. These discontinuous transitions are a striking manifestation of quantum mechanics in a massive, vibrating object.
Versions
Related
- Multi-Instantons and Exact-WKB Stokes Jumps in Multi-Well Quantum Mechanics
- The Low-Individual-Degree Test Without the Diagonal-Lines Test Is Not Quantum-Sound
- From harmonic to sound-like oscillations in a quantum gas confined in a gravity compensated shell trap
- Extracting the QCD speed of sound in the presence of quantum fluctuations
- Sound propagation in one-dimensional quantum droplets
BibTeX
@misc{makihara2026quantum,
title = {{Quantum jumps of sound}},
author = {Takuma Makihara and Erik Szakiel and Matthew P. Maksymowych and Oliver A. Hitchcock and Kaveh Pezeshki and Rachel G. Gruenke-Freudenstein and Mihir Pendharkar and Shannon P. Harvey and David I. Schuster and Amir H. Safavi-Naeini},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.10714},
eprint = {2610.10714},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10714},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Quantum jumps of sound
AU - Takuma Makihara
AU - Erik Szakiel
AU - Matthew P. Maksymowych
AU - Oliver A. Hitchcock
AU - Kaveh Pezeshki
AU - Rachel G. Gruenke-Freudenstein
AU - Mihir Pendharkar
AU - Shannon P. Harvey
AU - David I. Schuster
AU - Amir H. Safavi-Naeini
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.10714
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.10714
AB - Quantum mechanics predicts that a vibrating object's energy comes in discrete packets, yet no measurement of its position reveals this discreteness. Resolving individual energy levels requires a qualitatively different measurement, one coupling to the resonator's energy rather than its displacement. We use a superconducting qubit dispersively coupled to a nanomechanical resonator to perform repeated quantum nondemolition measurements of the phonon number. An aligned transfer-print technique integrating the qubit and resonator yields a mechanical lifetime of T_1 = 2.1 milliseconds and a dispersive shift of 2χ/2π= 328 kilohertz per phonon. We heralded single-phonon states with 85% fidelity and observed quantum jumps between the resonator's first excited state and ground state. These discontinuous transitions are a striking manifestation of quantum mechanics in a massive, vibrating object.
ER -