Direct Observation of Vacuum fluctuations using the third moment of voltage noise of a tunnel junction
| Quand ? |
Le 24/10/2023, de 11:00 à 12:00 |
|---|---|
| Où ? | Salle des conseils |
| S'adresser à | Benjamin Huard |
| Participants |
Bertrand Reulet |
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Vacuum fluctuations are a fascinating consequence of quantum mechanics. Their existence is experimentally deduced from their average influence on certain quantities, such as the lifetime or the position of energy levels. We have performed an experiment where fluctuations of the electromagnetic vacuum are directly detected in the microwave domain. For this, we study correlations between the electromagnetic fluctuations generated by a resistor at ultra-low temperature and the correlations they induce in the noise generated by a tunnel junction, which translates into a third-order moment of the detected voltage fluctuations at frequencies 5 and 10 GHz. This provides us not only with a direct observation of vacuum fluctuations, but also an absolute one since no calibration is needed.