We investigate controlled phase separation of a binary Bose-Einstein condensate in the proximity of a mixed-spin-channel Feshbach resonance in the |F=1,mF=+1$\rangle${} and |F=2,mF=-1$\rangle${} states of\, Rb87 at a magnetic field of 9.10 G. Phase separation occurs on the lower-magnetic-field side of the Feshbach resonance while the two components overlap on the higher-magnetic-field side. The Feshbach resonance curve of the scattering length is obtained from the shape of the atomic cloud by comparison with the numerical analysis of coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equations.

Information thermodynamics bridges information theory and statistical physics by connecting information content and entropy production through measurement and feedback control. Maxwell’s demon is a hypothetical character that uses information about a system to reduce its entropy. Here we realize a Maxwell’s demon acting on a superconducting quantum circuit. We implement quantum non-demolition projective measurement and feedback operation of a qubit and verify the generalized integral fluctuation theorem. We also evaluate the conversion efficiency from information gain to work in the feedback protocol. Our experiment constitutes a step toward experimental studies of quantum information thermodynamics in artificially made quantum machines.

We developed a novel magnetometer that employs negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV⁻) centers in diamond, to detect the magnetic field generated by magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for biomedical applications. The compact probe system is integrated into a fiber-optics platform allowing for a compact design. To detect signals from the MNPs effectively, we demonstrated, for the first time, the application of an alternating current (AC) magnetic field generated by the excitation coil of several hundred microteslas for the magnetization of MNPs in diamond quantum sensing. In the lock-in detection system, the minimum detectable AC magnetic field (at a frequency of 1.025 kHz) was approximately 57.6 nT for one second measurement time. We were able to detect the micromolar concentration of MNPs at distances of a few millimeters. These results indicate that the magnetometer with the NV⁻ centers can detect the tiny amounts of MNPs, thereby offering potential for future biomedical applications.

A superconducting qubit in the strong dispersive regime of circuit quantum electrodynamics is a powerful probe for microwave photons in a cavity mode. In this regime, a qubit excitation spectrum is split into multiple peaks, with each peak corresponding to an individual photon number in the cavity (discrete ac Stark shift). Here, we measure the qubit spectrum in a cavity that is driven continuously with a squeezed vacuum generated by a Josephson parametric amplifier. By fitting the obtained spectrum with a model which takes into account the finite qubit excitation power, we determine the photon number distribution, which reveals an even-odd photon number oscillation and quantitatively fulfills Klyshko’s criterion for nonclassicality.

Energy conservation and battery life extension are key challenges for the next-generation hybrid electric vehicles. In particular, the temperature and electric currents in a storage battery need to be monitored simultaneously with ∼1 kHz signal bandwidth for optimum battery usage. Here we introduce a centimeter-scale portable quantum sensor head, consisting of a diamond substrate hosting an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers with a density of ∼3 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³. One diamond surface is attached to a multi-mode fiber for simultaneous optical excitation and readout of the NV centers, while the other diamond surface is attached to a coplanar microwave guide for NV spin ground-state mixing. Signal bandwidth of 1 kHz was realized through time-domain multiplexing of the two-tone microwave frequency modulation at 20 kHz. Two microwave frequencies were locked to the two resonance points that were determined from the optically detected magnetic resonance spectrum. From the mean and the difference of the deviation from the two locked frequencies, the temperature and magnetic field were obtained simultaneously and independently, with sensitivities of 3.5 nT/Hz^1/2 and 1.3 mK/Hz^1/2, respectively. We also showed that our sensor reached a minimum detectable magnetic field of 5 pT by accumulating signals for over 10 000 s.

We study the application of a counterdiabatic driving (CD) technique to enhance the thermodynamic efficiency and power of a quantum Otto refrigerator based on a superconducting qubit coupled to two resonant circuits. Although the CD technique is originally designed to counteract nonadiabatic coherent excitations in isolated systems, we find that it also works effectively in the open system dynamics, improving the coherence-induced losses of efficiency and power. We compare the CD dynamics with its classical counterpart, and find a deviation that arises because the CD is designed to follow the energy eigenbasis of the original Hamiltonian, but the heat baths thermalize the system in a different basis. We also discuss possible experimental realizations of our model.