近日，南方科技大学杨兵团队报道了通过量子隧穿可扩展地生成大规模薛定谔猫态。这一研究成果于2026年5月11日发表在《自然—物理学》杂志上。

操控大质量物体的空间叠加态可能为探索量子力学与引力之间的相互作用提供新途径。冷原子干涉仪因其较长的物质波相干时间和精确的可控性，成为一个颇具前景的平台。然而，在此类装置中，尚未能实现超越单原子尺度的高质量空间叠加态。

研究组报道了通过光晶格中超冷原子的量子隧穿，可规模化地实现高质量空间纠缠。他们观测到了束缚原子团的相干隧穿，形成了质量为608原子质量单位的复合物体。通过对模型参数的完全控制，研究组得以缓解通常随质量增加而出现的隧穿抑制现象。此外还构建了一个干涉仪来验证纠缠，并利用空间分布的薛定谔猫态进行量子增强测量。这些结果建立了一种生成和检测与量子引力研究相关的大规模叠加态的方法。

附：英文原文

Title: Scalable generation of massive Schrdinger cat states via quantum tunnelling

Author: Zhang, Han, Wang, Yong-Kui, Zheng, Yi, Bai, Hai-Tao, Yang, Bing

Issue&Volume: 2026-05-11

Abstract: Massive objects in spatial superposition may provide insights into the interplay between quantum mechanics and gravity. Cold-atom interferometers offer a promising platform due to extended matter-wave coherence times and precise controllability. However, high-mass spatial superpositions beyond single atoms have yet to be generated in such setups. Here we report the scalable realization of high-mass spatial entanglement via the quantum tunnelling of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. We observe the coherent tunnelling of bound clusters, forming a composite object with a mass of 608AMU. Full control of the model parameters allows us to mitigate the usual suppression of tunnelling with increasing mass. Furthermore, we construct an interferometer to certify the entanglement and use spatially distributed Schrdinger cat states to perform quantum-enhanced measurements. These results establish an approach to generate and detect massive superposition states relevant to studies of quantum gravity.

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-026-03281-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-026-03281-9