JILA Science Seminar

Fermionic quantum simulators provide a powerful platform for exploring high-temperature superconductivity, topological phases, and many-body dynamics—challenges that persist even with the advent of qubit-based quantum computing. In this talk, I will present recent results from our high-repetition-rate fermionic quantum gas microscope, which is optimized for rapid data acquisition. Fast cycle times on the order of a few seconds are achieved through high-power optical traps, rapid evaporative cooling, and efficient spin-resolved fluorescence imaging.

Optical atomic clocks with eighteen significant digits are the most accurate measurement devices avail

Long-lived optical clock states of alkaline earth and alkaline earth-like atoms have many applicati

Ultracold polar molecules possess inherent strong electric dipole moments and a rich internal structure, making them ideal platforms for implementing novel quantum information schemes, performing precision quantum metrology, and exploring exotic quantum phases such as dipolar BEC-BCS crossover in molecular Fermi gases. However, such experiments require extensive control over two or more species of atoms and their interactions, significantly scaling up the complexity and construction period of the experiment setup.

In this talk, Shinho Kim will discuss photonic systems studied across distinct spectral regimes, from the visible to the mid-infrared. His work addresses multiscale and multiphysics challenges in light–matter interactions, with each spectral regime involving fundamentally different mechanisms and applications.

Ultracold polar molecules are an exciting platform for quantum science and technology. The combination of rich internal structure of vibration and rotation, controllable long-range dipolar interactions and strong coupling to applied electric and microwave fields has inspired many applications. These include quantum simulation of strongly interacting many-body systems, the study of quantum magnetism, quantum metrology and molecular clocks, quantum computation, precision tests of fundamental physics and the exploration of ultracold chemistry.

Abstract: Efforts on quantum simulation and computation have lead to the realization of well-controlled quantum many-body systems. Due to practical constraints, they are inevitably open, i.e., coupled to the environment, which generally leads to decoherence but can also be used to stabilize interesting states. In the thermodynamic limit, the nonequilibrium steady states can undergo phase transitions due to the competition of unitary and driven-dissipative processes. After recalling general properties, we will discuss first simple examples.

Experiments with fermionic atoms in optical lattices have led to breakthroughs in understanding fundamental condensed-matter phenomena. However, elevating such experiments from a tool of scientific exploration to a computational tool capable of quantitatively predicting molecule and material properties requires overcoming decoherence with fault-tolerance techniques. Existing approaches encode qubits into atoms, losing one of the fundamental advantages of cold-atoms: their fermionic nature.