Effect of Measurement Backaction on Quantum Clock Precision Studied with a Superconducting Circuit

Abstract

We theoretically and experimentally study the precision of a quantum clock near zero temperature, explicitly accounting for the effect of continuous measurement. The clock is created by a superconducting transmon qubit dispersively coupled to an open coplanar resonator. The cavity and qubit are driven by coherent fields, and the cavity output is monitored with a quantum-noise-limited amplifier. When the continuous measurement is weak, it induces persistent coherent oscillations (with fluctuating periods) in the conditional moments of the qubit’s energy probability distribution, which are manifest in the output of the resonator. On the other hand, strong continuous measurement leads to an incoherent cycle of quantum jumps. We theoretically find an equality for the precision of the clock in each regime. Independently from the equalities, we derive a kinetic uncertainty relation for the precision, and find that both equalities satisfy this uncertainty relation. Finally, we experimentally verify that our quantum clock obeys the kinetic uncertainty relation for the precision, thus making an explicit link between the (kinetic) thermodynamic behavior of the clock and its precision, and achieving an experimental test of a kinetic uncertainty relation in the quantum domain.

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