Defense Intelligence Reference Document Quantum Tomography Of Negative Energy States In The Vacuum

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CONCLUSION
Future aerospace platforms may have propulsion systems that modify their surrounding
spacetime geometry to implement faster-than-light spaceflight (via traversable
wormholes or warp drives) or produce levitation via antigravity. To engineer such a
modification of local spacetime requires the use of quantum sub-vacuum fluctuations
and their associated sub-vacuum (or negative) energy density. There are two key
examples of specially prepared quantum vacuum states that are known to produce
small amounts of sub-vacuum (negative) energy density in the laboratory. These are
the well-known Casimir effect and squeezed light. There are several other examples of
special quantum vacuum states or particle states that produce sub-vacuum (negative)
energy density, but they are still under theoretical study.
We already make small amounts of sub-vacuum (negative) energy in the laboratory via
the Casimir effect and squeezed light, but we do not yet know if we can access larger
amounts for extended periods of time over extended spatial distributions. The
Quantum Inequalities theorem suggests that producing large amounts of sub-vacuum
(negative) energy in "deformed" vacuum states for extended periods of time in flat or
curved spacetimes may not be possible. This claim remains as yet untested by
experiment while several investigators have strong arguments showing the theorem is
in error in these particular cases.
Quantum optical homodyne tomography can detect and quantify the fluctuations in a
variety of ("undisturbed") vacua as well as the sub-vacuum fluctuations found in both
squeezed light and Casimir cavities. Squeezed light has time-dependent, alternating
regions of sub-vacuum fluctuations (a.k.a. two-point functions) of the quantum electric
field. Casimir geometries provide environments with non-trivial position- and
frequency-dependent, time-independent, often sub-vacuum fluctuations (two-point
functions) of the quantum electric field. Balanced homodyne detectors (BHD) with local
oscillators are amplifiers that are capable of providing detailed measurements of the
sub-vacuum fluctuations (the two- and n-point functions) of the states of the quantum
electromagnetic field.
Nearly a decade ago, Hansen et al. [4] reported on their experimental time-domain (or
pulsed) BHD device that they developed to make precise measurements of the quantum
electric field quadratures of pulsed optical quantum states (e.g., squeezed light). A
master laser produced the local oscillator for this device. The device demonstrated a
high level of common mode suppression and low electronic noise, which provided large
enough signal-to-noise ratio to measure the quantum noise of individual pulses. The
device exhibited over 90% quantum efficiency. However, their device was not designed
to directly measure the energy density of the individual pulses. We recommend that a
research and development program be implemented to modify the design and operation
of the time-domain BHD device in order provide this important data. It will be
necessary to develop and commercialize a portable time-domain BHD device for the
purpose of detecting, measuring, and spatially mapping the sub-vacuum (negative)
energy regions produced by a putative pulsed (or "AC") negative energy generator that
might be used for engineering the spacetime surrounding an aerospace platform for
propulsion purposes. A number of modified time-domain BHD devices could also be
assembled in a sensor array for surveillance and detection of any anomalous aerospace
platforms that might use engineered spacetime effects for propulsion.
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