Research progress on nonclassical mechanical states in cavity optomechanics

Cavity optomechanics describes the interaction between intracavity radiation fields and mechanical resonators and it can be widely used for displacement-dependent precision measurements. In recent years, with the rapid development of microprocessing and experimental technology, a lot of non-classical quantum phenomena in various cavity optomechanical systems have been demonstrated, which is of great significance for exploring macroscopic quantum e ffects, achieving quantum-enhanced ultra-high precision measurements, and realizing quantum information processing. The present review briefly introduces the theoretical and experimental advances in the preparation of nonclassical mechanical states in cavity optomechanics in the past decade, including the fundamental theory of cavity optomechanics, the ground-state cooling of mechanical oscillators, non-classical mechanical states in cavity optomechanics systems, and potential applications. This work facilitates further exploration of novel quantum phenomena in cavity optomechanics in the future.