Can frontier precision measurements be substantially improved using ideas drawn from the fields of quantum information and quantum optics?  We are currently building an experiment to address this fundamental question.  If the answer is yes, this would represent one of the first useful applications of the concepts of quantum information.

Using lasers and magnetic fields, we can levitate atoms in vacuum and cool them to temperatures more than a million times colder than room temperature. Such isolated atoms can be used to efficiently store quantum information or make very precise measurements of time and fundamental symmetries of nature.  We place the atoms inside of a high finesse optical cavity to help control the light-matter interface, and are attempting to non-destructively probe and significantly reduce the fundamental Heisenberg-like quantum noise that limits the most advanced precision measurements of today.