PHYS 534 Quantum Measurements and Sensing

Quantum measurement is where the abstract postulates of quantum mechanics meet real instruments, and this graduate course treats measurement itself as the central object of study, how extracting information from a quantum system perturbs it, and how that tradeoff sets fundamental limits on what you can sense. You'll work through projection noise, the standard quantum limit, Ramsey-based phase estimation, and stochastic master equations, with weekly quizzes keeping the math honest and a term project pushing you into a specific platform like NV centers or backaction-evading schemes. It builds on a solid quantum mechanics background and a working comfort with probability, and it's the bridge to research in quantum sensing, metrology, and continuously monitored quantum systems, areas where the difference between standard and Heisenberg scaling is the difference between a publishable result and a footnote.