The deep space quantum link: prospective fundamental physics experiments using long-baseline quantum optics

Makan Mohageg; Luca Mazzarella; Charis Anastopoulos; Jason Gallicchio; Bei-Lok Hu; Thomas Jennewein; Spencer Johnson; Shih-Yuin Lin; Alexander Ling; Christoph Marquardt; Matthias Meister; Raymond Newell; Albert Roura; Wolfgang P Schleich; Christian Schubert; Dmitry V Strekalov; Giuseppe Vallone; Paolo Villoresi; Lisa Wörner; Nan Yu; Aileen Zhai; Paul Kwiat

doi:10.1140/epjqt/s40507-022-00143-0

The deep space quantum link: prospective fundamental physics experiments using long-baseline quantum optics

EPJ Quantum Technol. 2022;9(1):25. doi: 10.1140/epjqt/s40507-022-00143-0. Epub 2022 Oct 8.

Authors

Makan Mohageg¹, Luca Mazzarella¹, Charis Anastopoulos², Jason Gallicchio³, Bei-Lok Hu⁴, Thomas Jennewein⁵, Spencer Johnson⁶, Shih-Yuin Lin⁷, Alexander Ling⁸, Christoph Marquardt⁹, Matthias Meister¹⁰, Raymond Newell¹¹, Albert Roura¹⁰, Wolfgang P Schleich^{10

12

13}, Christian Schubert^{14

15}, Dmitry V Strekalov¹, Giuseppe Vallone^{16

17

18}, Paolo Villoresi^{16

17}, Lisa Wörner¹⁰, Nan Yu¹, Aileen Zhai¹, Paul Kwiat²

Affiliations

¹ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California USA.
² Department of Physics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.
³ Department of Physics, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California USA.
⁴ Maryland Center for Fundamental Physics and Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland USA.
⁵ Institute for Quantum Computing and Dep. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada.
⁶ Department of Physics, Illinois Quantum Information Science & Technology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois USA.
⁷ Department of Physics, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan.
⁸ Centre for Quantum Technologies and Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
⁹ Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany.
¹⁰ Institute of Quantum Technologies, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Ulm, Germany.
¹¹ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico USA.
¹² Institut für Quantenphysik and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQst), Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
¹³ Hagler Institute for Advanced Study, AgriLife Research, Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (IQSE), and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A& M University, College Station, Texas USA.
¹⁴ Institute for Satellite Geodesy and Inertial Sensing, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Hanover, Germany.
¹⁵ Institute for Quantum Optics, Germany Leibniz University Hannover, Hanover, Germany.
¹⁶ Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy.
¹⁷ Padua Quantum Technologies Research Center, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy.
¹⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy.

Abstract

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Deep Space Quantum Link mission concept enables a unique set of science experiments by establishing robust quantum optical links across extremely long baselines. Potential mission configurations include establishing a quantum link between the Lunar Gateway moon-orbiting space station and nodes on or near the Earth. This publication summarizes the principal experimental goals of the Deep Space Quantum Link. These goals, identified through a multi-year design study conducted by the authors, include long-range teleportation, tests of gravitational coupling to quantum states, and advanced tests of quantum nonlocality.

Keywords: Foundational quantum mechanics; General relativity; Quantum optics.

Publication types

Review