Atomic Physics Seminars |
Events During the Week of January 15th through January 22nd, 2017
Monday, January 16th, 2017
- No events scheduled
Tuesday, January 17th, 2017
- Quantum Control of Ultracold Dipolar Molecules
- Time: 12:00 pm
- Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Huanqian Loh, MIT
- Abstract: Polar molecules offer long-range anisotropic interactions, which are fundamental to a wide variety of phenomena, from ferrofluid behavior to the folding of proteins. Recent demonstrations of cooling and trapping polar molecules have made it possible to study these particles in the quantum regime, making them highly attractive for applications such as quantum information storage and exploring novel condensed matter phases. In this talk, I will report on the quantum control of dipolar fermionic NaK molecules, which we have synthesized in the ground state at ultracold temperatures as low as 300 nK. Using microwaves, we have coherently manipulated not only the rotational states of the molecules, but also the nuclear spin degree of freedom. I will present our observation of nuclear spin coherence times on the scale of 1 second, and discuss its implications for quantum memory and probing new physics via Hertz-level precision spectroscopy.
- Host: Thad Walker
Wednesday, January 18th, 2017
- No events scheduled
Thursday, January 19th, 2017
- Quantum entanglement for precision sensing with atoms and light
- Time: 12:00 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Onur Hosten, stanford
- Abstract: In the last decades, advances in the level of precision in controlling atomic and optical systems opened up the low-energy precision frontier to fundamental physics tests in addition to yielding new applied sensing technologies. In this talk I will focus on our experiments with cold atoms highlighting some of the most recent developments in the prospect of using quantum entanglement to further improve the precision of atomic and optical sensors.
I will describe the generation of 20dB spin-squeezed states of half a million 87Rb atoms inside of an optical cavity. From a practical point of view, the generated states enable up to a 100-fold reduction in required averaging times or atom numbers to achieve a given precision. I will explain the implementation of an atomic clock operating 10 dB beyond the standard quantum limit as well as the investigations of entanglement and Bell correlations in this system. I will then describe the demonstration of a new concept we call quantum phase magnification which utilizes optical cavity-aided interactions between atoms to magnify signals to-be-measured. This technique eliminates the need for low noise detection to achieve phase sensitivities beyond the standard quantum limit. I will conclude with future visions. - Host: Thad Walker
Friday, January 20th, 2017
- No events scheduled