English

A macro-realism inequality for opto-electro-mechanical systems

Quantum Physics 2012-09-17 v2 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Abstract

We show how to apply the Leggett-Garg inequality to opto-electro-mechanical systems near their quantum ground state. We find that by using a dichotomic quantum non-demolition measurement (via, e.g., an additional circuit-QED measurement device) either on the cavity or on the nanomechanical system itself, the Leggett-Garg inequality is violated. We argue that only measurements on the mechanical system itself give a truly unambigous violation of the Leggett-Garg inequality for the mechanical system. In this case, a violation of the Leggett-Garg inequality indicates physics beyond that of "macroscopic realism" is occurring in the mechanical system. Finally, we discuss the difficulties in using unbound non-dichotomic observables with the Leggett-Garg inequality.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1106.3138,
  title  = {A macro-realism inequality for opto-electro-mechanical systems},
  author = {Neill Lambert and Robert Johansson and Franco Nori},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1106.3138},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

9 pages, 2 figures. Added additional figure (2b), and associated content

R2 v1 2026-06-21T18:23:10.800Z