Quantum sensing and metrology may have tremendous potential to enhance our ability to observe the universe and address some of the most challenging questions such as the nature of dark matter & dark energy, the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, and the behaviour of black holes. Astronomy and astrophysics have seen a revolution of our understanding as more advanced instruments with higher sensitivity and finer resolution provide new data. The construction of operation of an optical very long baseline interferometer (VLBI) to provide orders of magnitude higher resolution than conventional telescopes is hindered by the limits of classical optical technologies. Distributed quantum entanglement, together with quantum memories is one proposed route towards breaking the barriers to Earth-sized, or larger, optical telescope arrays able to peer more closely at the astronomical objects, discover new planets, and provide a more powerful view of the universe. This project would investigate the requirements for building such entangled quantum telescope, develop protocols to collect, store, and measure astronomical photons, and provide the foundation for long-term proposals for space-based telescope arrays.

The student would perform theoretical and computational studies to analyse the challenges of collecting weak optical signals, transferring them to quantum memories, and using entanglement to perform distributed phase and interference visibility estimation, close to the quantum limit. Initial work would consider near to medium term quantum technology capabilities, later on incorporating the opportunities opened up by quantum information processing by quantum computers and advanced quantum computing algorithms to process inherently quantum data. There will be opportunities to collaborate with other theorists, experimentalists, and space engineers to advance the state of the art in developing quantum telescopes.