Motional Kerr-Cat States of an Atom in an Optical Tweezer

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2607.18579v1
• Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 23:21:55 GMT
• Title: Motional Kerr-Cat States of an Atom in an Optical Tweezer
• Abstract summary: We realize Schrdinger cat states in the quantized motion of a single neutral atom trapped in an optical tweezer.<n>We demonstrate parity control of both Kerr-cat and Fock states alongside tunable nonlinearity.<n>These results provide a new paradigm for cat-state and bosonic-state engineering in optical tweezers.
• Score: 0.36116808275150963
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Schrödinger cat states - quantum superpositions of classically or macroscopically distinct states - constitute a powerful resource for quantum computing, enhanced metrology, and probing coherence on large scales. Encoding such states in the phase space of an oscillator requires a nonlinearity, typically inherited from an auxiliary degree of freedom such as atomic spin or a Josephson junction. Neutral atoms trapped in reconfigurable optical tweezer arrays - a leading platform for quantum science and computing - provide an intrinsic nonlinearity via the motion of a single atom in a tightly focused trap. However, this self-Kerr mechanism has not previously been exploited for cat-state generation, and remains largely unexplored as a resource for motional-state control. Here we realize Schrödinger cat states in the quantized motion of a single neutral atom trapped in an optical tweezer. By modulating the depth and position, we demonstrate parity control of both Kerr-cat and Fock states alongside tunable nonlinearity, establishing a spin- and species-independent framework for controlling motion. We further show that the cat-state encoding is intrinsically robust against trap-frequency fluctuations that otherwise limit the fidelity of direct Fock-state transitions. These results establish Kerr-based control of neutral-atom motion as a new paradigm for cat-state and bosonic-state engineering in optical tweezers, providing a route toward quantum-error-correcting codes such as grid states, and toward quantum-enhanced sensing with arrays of non-Gaussian states.

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