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We investigate a method for generating nonlinear phase shifts on superpositions of photon number states. The light is stored in a Bose-Einstein condensate via electromagnetically-induced transparency memory techniques. The atomic collisions are exploited to generate a nonlinear phase shift of the stored state. The stored light is then revived with the nonlinear phase shift imprinted upon it. We show that this method can be used as a nonlinear-sign gate in the regime where the Thomas-Fermi and mean-field approximations are valid. We test these approximations using realistic parameters and find that these approximations pass the standard tests for validity in a single-component condensate. However, for the two-component condensates considered here, we find that these conditions are insufficiently strict. We find a stronger set of conditions and show for the same set of parameters that the approximations are invalid., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures

Unitary control of qudits can improve the collective spin squeezing of an atomic ensemble. Preparing the atoms in a state with large quantum fluctuations in magnetization strengthens the entangling Faraday interaction. The resulting increase in interatomic entanglement can be converted into metrologically useful spin squeezing. Further control can squeeze the internal atomic spin without compromising entanglement, providing an overall multiplicative factor in the collective squeezing. We model the effects of optical pumping and study the tradeoffs between enhanced entanglement and decoherence. For realistic parameters we see improvements of ~10 dB., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures

We describe a new approach to spin squeezing based on a double-pass Faraday interaction between an optical probe and an optically dense atomic sample. A quantum eraser is used to remove residual spin-probe entanglement, thereby realizing a single-axis twisting unitary map on the collective spin. This interaction can be phase-matched, resulting in exponential enhancement of squeezing. In practice the scaling and peak squeezing depends on decoherence, technical loss, and noise. A simplified model indicates ~10 dB of squeezing should be achievable with current laboratory parameters., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures.