BACKGROUND Levitation of large objects has become a widely used technique in science
and engineering, and the control of levitated nano-and micro-objects in vacuum has gained …

Nanomechanics has brought mesoscopic physics into the world of vibrations. Because
nanomechanical systems are small, fluctuations are significant, the vibrations already …

Tests of quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale require extreme control over
mechanical motion and its decoherence,–. Quantum control of mechanical motion has been …

Quantum control of complex objects in the regime of large size and mass provides
opportunities for sensing applications and tests of fundamental physics. The realization of …

Optomechanics is concerned with the use of light to control mechanical objects. As a field, it
has been hugely successful in the production of precise and novel sensors, the …

We report on rotating an optically trapped silica nanoparticle in vacuum by transferring spin
angular momentum of light to the particle's mechanical angular momentum. At sufficiently …

The momentum transfer between a photon and an object defines a fundamental limit for the
precision with which the object can be measured. If the object oscillates at a frequency Ω 0 …

Optically trapped nanospheres in high vacuum experience little friction and hence are
promising for ultrasensitive force detection. Here we demonstrate measurement times …

The imaginary Poynting momentum (IPM) of light has been captivated as an unusual origin
of optical forces. However, the IPM force is predicted only for dipolar magnetoelectric …

We discuss effects of loss of coherence in low energy quantum systems caused by or related
to gravitation, referred to as gravitational decoherence. These effects, resulting from random …