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Many anticipated discoveries in fundamental science demand better measurement sensitivity. For acoustic sensors, mechanical dissipation sets this limit via the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Yet, even in high-purity crystals, its microscopic origin remains poorly understood, and external enhancement, such as tension-induced dissipation dilution, is difficult to realize. Here, we realize a strain-engineered diamond nanomechanical platform using van der Waals self-assembly that harnesses surface forces to apply tensile stress exceeding 1 GPa.

Neutral-atom arrays have emerged as a leading platform for scalable quantum computing, combining excellent coherence, optical control of large qubit ensembles, and flexible all-to-all connectivity. Achieving fault tolerance, however, requires efficient error detection and correction. Ytterbium offers unique advantages through its metastable-state qubits: leakage to the ground state can be independently detected, converting physical errors into erasures with known locations, while single-photon excitation to Rydberg states enables scalable, high-fidelity two qubit gates.

Building new tools capable of studying phenomena beyond the reach of current technologies opens exciting opportunities. Quantum sensors harness the small and fragile nature of the qubits to achieve extremely precise measurements, enabling breakthroughs in fundamental physics and real-world applications by pushing resolution and sensitivity to new limits.

Emergent quantum phases often arise when interactions extend beyond nearest neighbors, giving rise to frustration, topology, and competing orders. Dipolar quantum gases offer a uniquely tunable and microscopically controlled platform for engineering and probing such long-range quantum matter. In this talk, I present two complementary experimental platforms that advance this frontier.

Continuous-variable quantum systems enable encoding complex states in fewer modes through large-scale non-Gaussian states. Motion, as a continuous degree of freedom, underlies phenomena from Cooper pair dynamics to levitated macroscopic objects. Hence, realizing high-energy, spatially extended motional states remains key for advancing quantum sensing, simulation, and foundational tests.
In the talk, I will present the following control tasks for various nonlinear mechanical systems, including trapped atoms, levitated particles, and clamped oscillators with spin-motion coupling.

The interplay between spin and charge in chiral materials — ranging from simple organic molecules to complex hybrid semiconductors — has emerged as one of the more intriguing open scientific problems. Chirality is fundamentally a symmetry question — an object is chiral if it cannot be superimposed on its mirror image — and chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS), whereby chiral materials preferentially transmit electrons of a particular spin orientation, is a striking consequence of this broken symmetry.

Competition among multiple orders is a defining feature of strongly correlated matter, from frustrated magnets to high-T_c superconductors. Here, I will present two examples where quantum dynamics is governed by such multiparty competition.

Quantum transducers provide a pathway to link superconducting circuits to quantum networks that extend over large distances at ambient temperatures. Here, we present our progress toward entangling a superconducting qubit in a dilution refrigerator with a time-bin encoded optical qubit propagating through a room temperature telecom fiber. Starting from a transmon qubit coupled to a microwave resonator, we generate an itinerant time-bin encoded microwave qubit entangled with the transmon.

In this talk, I will discuss two recent developments centered on the physics and manipulation of hyperfine interactions in atomic and molecular systems. First, I will introduce an all-optical method for performing qudit gate operations in alkaline-earth and alkaline-earth-like atoms. Our scheme utilizes single-beam Raman transitions within the 1S0 to 3P1 manifold to achieve coherent manipulation of high-dimensional hyperfine levels, compatible with non-destructive readout and two-qudit gates via Rydberg blockade.

Wildfires are becoming increasingly frequent and intense in a warming climate, reversing decades of air quality improvements, as seen in the 2025 Los Angeles Fires and many other record-breaking events worldwide. Crucially, what burns locally doesn’t stay local—wildfire smoke often rises, travels, and affects the atmosphere and climate far beyond its source. I will share new insights into the far-reaching impacts of wildfire smoke based on aircraft measurements, satellite observations, and modeling.

Partnerships for Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC) is the longstanding JILA-PFC community partnership-based public engagement program. PISEC connects university volunteers with K12 youth to engage in hands-on, inquiry-based science activities and projects through afterschool clubs and in-class project-based mentorship. We seek to support youth STEM identity development and to cultivate and sustain students' interest in STEM by co-creating transformative and empowering experiences with STEM.

Active systems are driven out of equilibrium by exch

Since 2019, the CUbit Quantum Seminar Series at the University of Colorado Boulder has been a cornerstone of Colorado’s rapidly expanding quantum innovation ecosystem. Each seminar brings leading quantum scientists, entrepreneurs, and technologists from around the world to campus, creating a rare forum where students, researchers, and industry partners engage directly with the people and ideas shaping the future of quantum technology.

The Department of Biochemistry invites professors and scientists from other universities and institutes to present seminars at the University of Colorado Boulder throughout the academic year. These seminars provide an opportunity for faculty and students to learn about exciting current research.

For the last quarter century, experiments at Brookha

The dynamics of Earth’s radiation belts remain one of the central challenges in space weather research. Despite decades of satellite observations, predicting when and how the belts will intensify or decay remains difficult. This seminar will discuss recent work combining multi-mission datasets from 36 multi-agency satellites to produce the highest-resolution phase space density (PSD) observations of the outer belt to date, and how these have been used to identify dominant acceleration and loss mechanisms.

The Department of Biochemistry invites professors and scientists from other universities and institutes to present seminars at the University of Colorado Boulder throughout the academic year. These seminars provide an opportunity for faculty and students to learn about exciting current research.

As educators, we would like to prepare our students for 21st century physics careers. Overall, to ensure all students will become successful scientists, physics departments need to be able to provide evidence to make sure that we are reaching these goals. The field of Physics Education Research has made major contributions to various educational practices and materials to reform instruction in order to recruit and retain more students.

Explore physics and quantum-related research throug