ÖPG-CMD Joint Meeting 2026

Non-reciprocal interactions and entanglement between optically levitated nanoparticles

Sep 23, 2026, 5:45 PM

30m

HS 15.12 (University of Graz)

3) Contributed talk M29 - Nanomechanical, Electromechanical, Optomechanical and Levitated Systems Mini-Colloquium

Speaker

Benjamin Stickler (Ulm University)

Description

Optically levitating dielectric nanoparticles in ultra-high vacuum, where their motion can be cooled into the deep quantum regime, provides a promising platform for force and torque sensing and for high-mass tests of quantum physics. In this contribution, I will discuss recent results on the coupled dynamics of co-levitated nanoparticles interacting via optical binding and via electrostatic forces. I will show how non-reciprocal interactions [1,2] and mechanical entanglement [3,4] between two particles can be generated and observed by controlling the light fields suspending them.

[1] Rieser, Ciampini, Rudolph, Kiesel, Hornberger, Stickler, Aspelmeyer, and Delić, Science 377, 987 (2022)
[2] Reisenbauer, Rudolph, Egyed, Hornberger, Zasedatelev, Abuzarli, Stickler, and Delić, Nat. Phys. 20, 1629 (2024)
[3] Rudolph, Delić, Aspelmeyer, Hornberger, and Stickler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 193602 (2022)
[4] Rudolph, Delić, Hornberger, and Stickler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 233603 (2024)