Macroscopic arrays of cold atoms trapped in optical cavities can reach the strong atom-light collective coupling regime thanks to the simultaneous interactions of the cavity mode with the atomic ensemble. In a recent work [R. J. Lewis-Swan, D. Barberena, J. A. Muniz, J. R. K. Cline, D. Young, J. K. Thompson, and A. M. Rey, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 193602 (2020)] we reported a protocol that takes advantage of the strong and collective atom-light interactions in cavity QED systems for precise electric-field sensing in the optical domain. We showed that it can provide between 10 and 20 dB of metrological gain over the standard quantum limit in current cavity QED experiments operating with long-lived alkaline-earth atoms. Here, we give a more in depth discussion of the protocol using both exact analytical calculations and numerical simulations, and describe the precise conditions under which the predicted enhancement holds after thoroughly accounting for both photon loss and spontaneous emission, natural decoherence mechanisms in current experiments. The analysis presented here not only serves to benchmark the protocol and its utility in cavity QED arrays but also sets the conditions required for its applicability in other experimental platforms such as arrays of trapped ions.

中文翻译：

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原子光纠缠在光学领域实现精确的场感测

由于腔模与原子团的同时相互作用，捕获在光学腔中的冷原子的宏观阵列可以达到强原子-光的集体耦合机制。在最近的工作中[RJ Lewis-Swan，D。Barberena，JA Muniz，JRK Cline，D。Young，JK Thompson和AM Rey，Phys。牧师 124，193602（2020）]我们报道了一种协议，该协议利用腔QED系统中强大的集体原子-光相互作用来在光域中进行精确的电场感测。我们显示，在使用长寿命碱土原子的电流腔QED实验中，它可以提供超过标准量子极限10至20 dB的计量增益。在这里，我们使用精确的解析计算和数值模拟对协议进行了更深入的讨论，并描述了在精确考虑了当前实验中的光子损耗和自发发射，自然退相干机制后，预测增强保持的精确条件。