QuSLAM · Quantum simulation of strong interaction of light and matter
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-04-01 → 2020-09-30
- EU contribution
- €131,105
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Quantum simulation of strong interaction of light and matter
Classical computers are limited when trying to solve quantum physics problems that involve many strongly-interacting particles. This is because with every new particle we introduce into the problem, the computation time grows by at least a factor of two. This means that with only 100 particles or more, classical computers need years to solve a problem. The famous, Nobel-prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman suggested using a well-controlled quantum system to simulate the quantum problem of interest, much like a model airplane in a wind tunnel simulates a real airplane. Experimental platforms that achieve this are called quantum simulators. The objective of this project is to build a new type of quantum simulator using ultracold strontium atoms in optical lattices, standing waves of light that act as a potential for atoms. These optical lattices cannot be made infinitely large due to laser power limitations and therefore, state-of-the-art quantum simulators are limited to only a few hundred atoms. The optical lattices in this new quantum simulator should be very large and thus enable simulations with tens of thousands of atoms, a particle number 100 times larger than previously possible. These lattices should also be different for different internal states of the atom, i.e., state-dependent, to enable new types of quantum simulations. The envisioned quantum simulation is of strong light-matter interactions. Atom-light interaction in only well understood in the few-body or weak-interaction regime. Strong interactions of light and matter in a many-body system are not well understood. This quantum simulator could answer these questions and enable better time keeping by enabling better atomic clocks, more robust quantum memories for quantum information, and provide solutions to long-standing quantum-chemistry problems.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Quantum optics describes the emission and absorption of radiation by quantum systems. The most interesting effects of the coupling between quantum emitters and their environment (a bath) appear when this coupling becomes strong.If multiple quantum emitters are coupled strongly to the same bath, the emitters themselves interact strongly via the bath, opening the way to engineered many-body quantum systems with interesting radiative properties, such as directional emission, chirality, and subradiance.However, fundamental and technical issues limit the coupling strength achievable with state-of-the-art experimental platforms: emitters placed in microcavities or coupled to nanophotonic structures.To circumvent these issues, the applicant proposes to realize an analog quantum simulation of quantum emitters strongly coupled to baths with engineered band structures in one and two dimensions. In this quantum simulation all relevant parameters will be arbitrarily tunable allowing the realization of all system regimes, including the strong coupling regime. This tunability will be achieved by replacing the quantum emitter with an artificial two-level quantum system. Ultracold strontium atoms trapped in optical lattices will be used for this purpose.The implemented quantum simulator will be used to realize and directly image bound states in one and two dimensions that could enable strong long-range atom-atom interactions. Furthermore, by tailoring the emission direction and dynamics of multiple emitters in 1D and 2D, unprecedentedly long-lived subradiant states will be engineered, with applications in precision measurements, metrology, and quantum computing. This project will also open up the possibility of going beyond the physics of photonic baths and engineering both noninteracting and strongly-interacting baths, consisting of either bosonic or fermionic particles, that have no analog in quantum optics.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENCoordinatorGermany
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union