Magnetometry with entangled atomic samples

We present a theory for the estimation of a scalar or a vector magnetic field by its influence on an ensemble of trapped spin-polarized atoms. The atoms interact off resonantly with a continuous laser field, and the measurement of the polarization rotation of the probe light, induced by the dispersive atom-light coupling, leads to spin squeezing of the atomic sample which enables an estimate of the magnetic field that is more precise than that expected from standard counting statistics. For polarized light and polarized atoms, a description of the non classical components of the collective spin angular momentum for the atoms and the collective Stokes vectors of the light field in terms of effective Gaussian position and momentum variables is practically exact. The Gaussian formalism describes the dynamics of the system very effectively and accounts explicitly for the back action on the atoms due to measurement and for the estimate of the magnetic field. Multicomponent magnetic fields are estimated by the measurement of suitably chosen atomic observables and precision and efficiency is gained by dividing the atomic gas in two or more samples which are entangled by the dispersive atom-light interaction.