JILA News

Dr. Peter L. Bender, an esteemed experimental physicist and a foundational member of JILA (formerly the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics) at the University of Colorado Boulder, passed away recently, leaving behind a legacy marked by significant contributions to the fields of geophysics, astrophysics, and precision measurement. 

As a JILA Fellow from 1963 to 1995 and later a Fellow Adjoint, Bender was deeply and actively involved in pioneering research that has shaped our understanding of the universe.

Luke Coffman, a dedicated undergraduate research assistant at JILA, part of the University of Colorado Boulder, has been awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for the 2024 academic year. This award places Coffman among a select group of 438 students nationwide recognized for their significant achievements and potential in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics research.

JILA undergraduate student Aaron Barrios has recently been honored with the prestigious Jacob Van Ek Scholarship, an accolade conferred by the University of Colorado Boulder College of Arts and Sciences to a select group of exceptional undergraduates. This year, Barrios is among 23 distinguished students to receive one of the college's highest honors, reflecting his outstanding contributions and academic excellence in the fields of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics.

At the 2024 Conference of World Affairs, held at the University of Colorado Boulder, two prominent figures in the Colorado quantum industry shared their insights into the rapidly evolving quantum technology landscape. Dana Anderson, a JILA Fellow, CU Boulder professor of Electrical Engineering, and the CSO of Infleqtion (previously ColdQuanta), joined forces with Corban Tillman-Dick, CEO and Founder of Maybell and chair of Elevate Quantum, a consortium of over 80 quantum-focused companies in Colorado.

Building on efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in physics, CU Boulder’s Department of Physics and JILA will host a Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP) in January 2025. The conference will bring approximately 150 students from the Midwest region to Boulder.

The three-day regional conferences are sponsored by the American Physical Society (APS) and held annually at select institutions around the country. They are designed to provide professional development opportunities for undergraduate women and gender minorities through networking, keynote speakers, career advice, and graduate school sessions.

Dr. Xun Gao has been honored with the designation of JILA Fellow, highlighting his anticipated contributions to JILA’s research. In addition to his appointment as a JILA Fellow, the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder has added Gao as an Assistant Professor. His enthusiasm for the collaborative spirit that characterizes the JILA and CU Boulder communities promises to bring fresh perspectives and innovative research to the forefront.

The Heising-Simons Foundation's Science program has announced a generous grant of $3 million over three years, aimed at bolstering theoretical and experimental research efforts to bridge the realms of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) physics with quantum gravity theories. Among the recipients, a notable grant was awarded to a multi-investigator collaboration spearheaded by the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) and JILA, a joint institute of CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 

CU Boulder has proudly announced the winners of its prestigious 2023-2024 Translational Quantum Research Seed Grants, a crucial step in fostering quantum science and technology innovation. This year's selection includes JILA Fellow Murray Holland, a distinguished figure in the field of quantum physics, who has been recognized for his groundbreaking project, "Developing a strontium optical lattice atom interferometer."

In a recent significant visit to JILA, a joint institute established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper discussed the transformative potential of quantum computing on Colorado's economy, job industry, and educational sector. The visit underscored the state's growing prominence in the quantum technology landscape.

Nick Jenkins, a graduate student at JILA, an institute jointly operated by the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has been awarded the esteemed Nick Cobb Memorial Scholarship. Mentored by JILA Fellows and University of Colorado Boulder professors Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn, Jenkins' research focuses on pioneering tabletop extreme ultraviolet (EUV) microscopy techniques using high-harmonic generation light sources. This innovative work has positioned him as a standout recipient of this significant award.

In an exciting turn for physics research, four major foundations have announced a collaborative funding effort for 11 pioneering "tabletop" experiments. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Simons Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation have come together, committing a total of $30 million. This unique initiative focuses on supporting experiments that, despite their relatively modest scale, are set to delve into areas often reserved for large-scale facilities.

Among the funded projects, each of which will receive up to five years of financial support, is a particularly notable experiment led by JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye and his research team. Known for his remarkable work in physics, Ye's project stands out for its ambition and innovative approach. The experiment involves the development of ultra-precise atomic clocks, which are expected to significantly advance our understanding of both quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Anjun Chu, a JILA graduate student, has been awarded the esteemed Boeing Quantum Creators Prize for 2023. This prestigious award, established by Boeing in 2021, celebrates early-career researchers who have significantly contributed to the advancement of quantum information science and engineering.

Chu, a member of the theory group led by JILA and NIST Fellow Ana Maria Rey, has distinguished himself through his groundbreaking research in quantum many-body dynamics. His work, focusing on spin systems and their multilevel extensions, has been vital in exploring quantum simulation and metrology in cutting-edge areas like optical lattice clocks and cavity QED systems.

In a prestigious acknowledgment of scientific impact, JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye has been awarded the 2023 "Highly Cited" researcher designation from Clarivate. This notable recognition is bestowed upon researchers whose work ranks in the top 1% of citations for their field, highlighting their significant influence in the scientific community. 

Every year, the Czech Science Foundation (GCAR) funds several JUNIOR STAR projects focused on new research areas and building powerful collaborative teams. These projects are awarded to early-career scientists coming to the Czech Republic from other countries or with significant international experience. Each project is awarded CZK 25 million over the following five years.
This year, JILA postdoctoral researcher Vít Svoboda is one of the 17 awardees in the 2023 JUNIOR STAR cohort. 

U.S. President Joe Biden has awarded 232 Senior Executive Service (SES), Senior-Level (SL), and Scientific and Professional (ST) members across 31 government agencies with the prestigious Presidential Rank Award. Of these individuals, JILA and NIST Fellow Ana Maria Rey has been recognized within the Department of Commerce for her work in precision measurement and quantum physics. 

To honor students' abilities for clear and effective communication in quantum physics, Optica offers a yearly "best paper" award at its International Conference on Advanced Solid State Lasers. This year, JILA graduate student Daniel Carlson was among the list of winners, with his presentation "Carbon K-Edge Soft X-Rays Driven by a 3 µm,1 kHz OPCPA Laser System" winning over the judges. 

Every year, the Frontiers in Optics conference holds the Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition, acknowledging the excellence of students in presenting their work at the conference in both paper and poster form. This year, JILA graduate student Jeremy Thurston of the Murnane and Kapteyn research groups showcased his work in both a paper and presentation titled: "Bright Tunable Ultrafast Deep- and Vacuum-Ultraviolet Harmonic Combs," which was awarded a prize by the judges for excellence in communication. 

Every year, the Colorado Photonics Industry Association (CPIA) holds a university meeting where students from several of Colorado's prominent universities present their work as a poster to an industry audience, followed by networking with potential employers. For students, it's an excellent opportunity to practice public speaking, share their current research projects, and find potential industry jobs. Each year, three students are awarded a cash prize for how well they communicate their research and the design of their poster. 

This year, JILA graduate students Qizhong Liang, from JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye's research group, and Drew Morrill, from JILA Fellows Margaret Murnane's and Henry Kapteyn's research group, have been awarded prizes for their poster presentations. 

On October 20th, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet visited JILA, a joint institute between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder. During his visit, Bennet engaged with several of the institute's scientists and students, discussing their groundbreaking research and its implications. JILA Fellows Konrad Lehnert, Cindy Regal, Jun Ye, and Ana Maria Rey all spoke about their research during Bennett’s walking tour of JILA. Bennet visited Ye’s laboratory, discussing with several of his students the importance of atomic clocks and their impacts on technology such as GPS. 

 Bennet's engagement with JILA reinforces the significance of Colorado as a hub for scientific innovation and quantum research, and it sheds light on the potential collaborations that could emerge between political leadership and the scientific community.

JILA and NIST Fellow Ana Maria Rey and JILA Fellow and NIST Physicist Adam Kaufman have both been recently featured in an article for IEEE Spectrum. In a pair of Nature papers, Rey and Kaufman both demonstrated the phenomena of spin-squeezing to reduce noise in their quantum systems. "All objects that follow the rules of quantum physics can exist in multiple energy states at once, an effect known as superposition," explains the IEEE Spectrum article. "Spin squeezing reduces all those possible superposition states to just a few possibilities in some respects, while expanding them in others."