Mechanical quantum sensors
Tiny forces shift the motion of a resonator with quantized displacement.
$$x_{\mathrm{zpf}}=\sqrt{\hbar/(2m\Omega_m)}$$
Physical intuition
Tiny forces shift the motion of a resonator with quantized displacement.
Deep dive: physical mechanism
A mechanical oscillator responds to force near resonance; optical or electrical transducers convert displacement to a measurable output.
What is measured experimentally?
Read out displacement spectra and force-response functions.
Assumptions, noise and limitations
Thermal motion and damping usually dominate away from cryogenic conditions.
Research and simulation exercise
Compute a mechanical susceptibility and force noise spectrum.
Connect the ideas
Explore the chapter overview, learning path, and references.