CAREER:Quantum Many-Body Control with Alkaline-Earth Atom-Arrays

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

The ability to create and control large-scale, coherent quantum many-body systems has wide-ranging implications for both technology and progress in fundamental sciences. It enables the generation and manipulation of entanglement, which forms the experimental foundation for quantum computers. It is necessary for quantum simulation, where highly-controlled experimental implementations shed light on outstanding questions in condensed matter physics, quantum chemistry, or high-energy physics. And it is an important building-block for realizing quantum-enhanced metrology schemes at the heart of future atomic clocks and sensor devices. Here, this project will implement such highly-controlled, large-scale quantum many-body systems with arrays of ultracold, alkaline-earth strontium atoms that are assembled and manipulated in an atom-by-atom fashion with optical tweezers and controlled via ultra-precise clock state manipulation. This platform has immediate usability in all three major directions of quantum science: quantum computing, quantum simulation and quantum-enhanced metrology. The broader impact of this research stems from the transformative effect that quantum technologies can have on society. Yet, quantum physics is not a part of basic education. Therefore, a primary goal of the educational and outreach program is to make quantum physics more accessible for a broader audience. This research program directly addresses the 'experimental quantum many-body challenge' by combining elements of quantum gas microscopes, atom-by-atom assembly, and optical lattice clocks into a novel experimental platform with unique capabilities. This combination of features will enable a host of new developments, including novel atomic clocks based on single-atom control, quantum-enhanced metrology and quantum simulation schemes based on Rydberg interactions, or the bottom-up assembly of Hubbard and orbital-exchange models. Finally, this platform can realistically reach defect-free arrays of hundreds of atoms by implementing scalable atom-by-atom assembly. The aim is to combine large system sizes, precision control over individual particles, and coherent control over interaction mechanisms. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.