Nondestructive optomechanical detection scheme for Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

We present a two-tone heterodyne optical readout scheme to extract unequal-time density correlations along an arbitrary stationary interaction path from a pancake-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate, using a modulated laser probe. Analysing the measurement noise both from imprecision and backaction, we identify the standard quantum limit for the signal-extraction scheme, and examine how a class of two-mode squeezed initial states can be used to push beyond this limit. As an application, we show how the readout scheme can be used for an experimentally feasible realisation of acceleration-dependence of quantum-vacuum fluctuations in the system, including the analogue spacetime circular motion Unruh effect. The scheme is adaptable beyond Bose-Einstein condensates, providing nondestructive access to unequal-time correlations in quantum fluids.